las- 


JOHN  HENRY  NASH 


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EXLIBRIS  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


<§>  SAN  FRANCISCO 

PRESENTED  TO  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

ROBERT  GORDON  SPROUL,  PRESIDENT. 
<$>    BY  * 

MR.ANDMRS.MILTON  S.RAY 
CECILY,  VIRGINIA  AND  ROSALYN  RAY 

AND  THE 

RAY  OIL  BURNER  COMPANY 


SAN  FRANCISCO 
NEW  YORK. 


on  South  America  with  Variations! 

From  San  Francisco  to  New  York 
on  Board  the  CYPRUS 

from  March  IIth  to  June  Ist  1 916 
by  MARJORIE  G.  JOSSELYN 


Privately  Printed  by 

JOHN  HENRY  N  ASH  for  JOHN  HOWELL 

San  Francisco 


TO  THE  CYPRUS 

WHO  SUBSEQUENTLY  GAVE 

HER  LIFE  FOR  HER 

COUNTRY 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 
San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


• 


may  be  dull  sounding  details  in  my  humble 
effort  to  record  this  journey  to  South  America,  but 
although  this  is  the  first  day,  I  am  convinced  that 
the  fault  will  be  mine.  'That  hackneyed  phrase, 
which  is  almost  invariably found some  where  with  in  the  first  few 
pages  of  records  where  the  personal  pronoun  is  used,  has  always 
seemed  to  me  to  be  far-fetched  and  wholly  unnecessary,  but  per- 
haps it  is  n't  after  all!  Any  dullness  ahead  of  us  seems  incred- 
ible- adventure,  and  such  things,  yes  perhaps,  but  anyone  who 
could  be  bored  shall  not  be  mentioned. 

yust  because  it's  all  true,  a  really  truly  cross-my -he art-to- 
die-true  fairy  tale,  I  must  begin  from  the  beginning,  tho'  it' s 
a  temptation  to  foresee  a  plot  and  follow  the  best  of  all  good  ex- 
amples by  beginning  in  the  middle  likeyoseph  Conrad.  At  least 
I  aspire  high  !  Let  that  be  to  my  credit. 

On  the  II  th  of  March  at  6  p.m.,  Virginia  and 'Jack,  our 
hosts  and  friends,  Mary  and  Walter,  more  friends,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Tooker,  who  were  strangers  to  me  but  already  friends, 
Dr.  Allen,  to  whom  it  is  forbidden  to  make  love, and"  Cappie" 
Black  to  whom  it  isn't,  started  on  this  journey.  Considering 
the  sleeping-car  stories  one  reads  of,  and  those  that  are  blush- 
ingly  told  as  personal  experiences,  we  should  be  able  to  add  to 
the  number,  but  having  determined  to  tell  the  truth  and  noth- 
ing but  the  truth,  I  am  forced  to  admit  that  the  trip  to  Los 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Angeles  was  just  a  plain  and  uneventful  one.  Arriving  on 
the  Sabbath  in  that  estimable  (this  for  the  benefit  of  any  Los 
Angelite  whose  eye  might  light  on  this)  city,  Virginia,  Mary, 
and  Walter,  left  us  at  the  railroad  station,  announcing  their 
intention  to  go  to  Church  .  .  .  to  be  more  accurate,  I  recall 
that  we  actually  took  them  there,  and  when  they  returned,  I 
must  admit  they  spoke  intelligibly  of  the  service,  etc.  Of  course 
we  have  our  doubts,  but  in  view  of  the  Time  and  Place,  pos- 
sibly they  did  remain  for  a  moment,  thtf  with  my  own  eyes,  I 
saw  the  entire  congregation  filing  out  of  the  Church  just  as 
they  entered,  which  seemed  to  suggest  that  the  service  was  a 
thing  of  the  past.  However,  if  their  intentions  were  good  we '// 
forgive  them  !  Speaking  of  biblical  things,"  Cappie"  was  not 
going  to  be  outdone  by  a  little  Sunday  church-going,  so  he  put 
in  the  morning  by  having  a  mote  removed  from  his  eye  !  Mary, 
Walter,  Virginia,  and  I  breakfasted  with  Walter  Van  Pelt  at 
the  California  Club,  and  when  I  remember  what  a  good  break- 
fast it  was  and  what  an  agreeable  hour  we  spent,  my  conscience 
pricks  me  frightfully  at  the  unconscionable  things  I  think  of 
Los  Angeles. 

At  1:15  (having  been  threatened  with  being  eternally  boiled 
in  oil  did  we  arrive  a  minute  late)  we  all  met  again  and  were 
joined  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aldrich.  By  'way  of  forestalling  the 
possibility  of  any  disagreeable  thing,  we  motored  to  San  Pedro; 
a  so  much  pleasanter  way  of  getting  there  than  climbing  into 
a  hot  stuffy  train,  with  the  odor  of  stale  orange  peel,  the  exas- 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


perating  cries  of  babies — poor  blameless  little  things — and    Introductory 
the  general  annoyances  of  the  inevitable  Sunday  picnic  crowd. 
Without  delay  we  got  into  the  launch,  and  within  a  few  min- 
utes were  alongside  the  CYPRUS.  A  blue,  sunshiny  sky,  and 
water  as  smooth  as  glass. 

No  need  or  rather  no  use  to  attempt  a  description  of  the  CY- 
PRUS. She  is  indescribable.  Indescribably  beautiful,  indescrib- 
ably luxurious,  and  indescribably  cosy;  yes,  cosy,  there  is  no 
other  word.  She  is  big  or  little,  just  as  you  please.  She  conforms 
herself  to  your  every  mood.  She  is  gay,  she  is  quiet,  she  is  every- 
thing that  makes  the  world  seem  to  be  a  place  where  it  is  worth 
one's  while  to  live  and  be  happy  in  ! 

The  afternoon  was  spent  in  unpacking  and  getting"  settled" — 
a  kind  of  frantic  desire  to  get  over  the  only  unpleasant  detail 
before  enjoying  to  the  full  every  moment  of  every  other  day. 
The  room  I  am  writing  in  is  full  of  great  tubs  of  rhododen- 
drons and  baskets  of  blooming  rambler  roses;  one  would  like  to 
curl  up  in  any  one  of  all  the  nice  comfortable  chairs  with  a 
book,  it  is  so  homelike  —  the  whole  room,  all  the  rooms.  This  is 
just  too  good  to  be  true  and  yet  here  we  are,  with  no  rules  and 
regulations  such  as  invariably  accompany  all  the  things  that 
are  worth  while.  It  is  like  a  fairy -land  park  to  the  small  boy 
with  a  dog;  he  looks  in  vain  for  the  signs:  "It  is  forbidden  to 
walk  on  the  grass,"  "Loose  dogs  prohibited,"  "Children  are 
not  allowed  to  climb  the  trees  or  to  pick  the  flowers"  etc.,  etc. 

The  evening  hardly  existed  for  "the  ladies" ;  that  is,  after 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Introductory  dinner  which  left  one  unreminiscent  of  Paris,  London,  or  New 
York,  we  all  retired — not  to  a  berth  or  a  bunk,  but  to  a  large 
comfortable  bed.  Is  it  permitted  to  go  into  details  and  to  add: 
with  linen  sheets  and  soft  pillows,  and  a  splendid  light  to  read 
by"?  Anyway,  those  are  the  fatts. 

Monday  "T  N  MY  own  good  time  this  morning,  I  rang  for  my  breakfast, 
JL  which  was  brought  to  me  on  a  dainty  white  tray,  a  little  gold 
and  white  breakfast  set,  with  coffee  too  hot  to  drink  and  toast 
so  crisp  and  hot  that  it  fairly  burned  my  tongue.  I  should  just 
like  to  ask  if  that  sounds  like  a  discouraging  way  to  begin  the 
day? 

The  first  order  of  the  day  was  a  veritable  command!  Vaccina- 
tion. One  and  all  we  assembled  in  the  Music  Room  and  Dr. 
Allen  spent  a  busy  morning,  indeed  a  busy  afternoon  too.  The 
" ladies "  must  be  vaccinated  on  the  leg,  the  cry  being,  "What of 
low  neck  ? "  though  Dr.  Allen  had  not  suggested  the  neck  as  being 
the  one  and  only  proper  place.  But  the  audience  was  "extensive 
and  peculiar"  and  very  observing,  and  it  was  no  opportunity  to 
be  missed.  The  present  style  of  very  short  skirts  made  it  only 
necessary  to  raise  the  hem  an  inch  or  two  and  thus  the  "ladies" 
eternal  plea  of  modesty  was  mollified!!!  I  secretly  believe  men 
enjoy  extravagantly  going  about  in  their  shirt  sleeves,  for  long 
before  their  turn  they  appeared  in  that  garb,  with  a  sort  of 
"Now  I  have  an  excuse  at  last!"  look,  that  betrayed  them. 
Then  Dr.  Allen,  who  apparently  enjoys  his  profession,  busied 
himself  with  the  crew,  with  always  the  same  object  in  view. 
Not  so  successfully  however,  for  one  youth  fainted  dead  away 
(the  doctor  must  have  been  "untold  gentle"  with  the  "ladies" 
.  .  .  they  would  never  have  missed  such  an  opportunity,  had 
they  known!)  and  another  bright-eyed  lad  surreptitiously  es- 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


caped  by  climbing  like  a  monkey  to  the  top  of  the  mast!  When 
Dr.  Allen  was  last  seen,  he  was  squatting  below,  alcohol,  absor- 
bent cotton,  vaccine,  etc.,  laid  out  invitingly  beside  him.  I  am 
wondering  which  one  will  stick  it  out?  We  shall  see  what  we 
shall  see. 

Luncheon  . . .  such  a  good  luncheon:  codfish  in  cream,  Virginia 
ham  and  potato  salad  with  a  soupc.on  of  onion;  other  things  too, 
but  I  couldn't  quite  resist  mentioning  those,  .  .  .  interrupted 
the  vaccination  party,  and  afterward  we  dispersed  as  really 
right-minded  guests  should.  The  word  "guests"  brings  me  to 
the  question: — Are  we  guests?  We  might  each  be  owners,  hosts, 
or  anything  we  please.  The  atmosphere  is  that  of  being  at  home, 
with  the  family  away!  It's  delightful.  A  little  bridge  this 
afternoon,  pleasantly,  quietly,  comfortably;  no  insistence,  no 
unwillingness.  I'm  not  perfectly  convinced  as  yet  that  we 
haven't  all  died  and  gone  to  Heaven!! 

This  evening  the  "ladies"  devoted  to  modelling;  modelling  in 
pink  clay.  It  would  be  a  wicked  lie  to  say  they  succeeded.  Suc- 
cess means  so  much!  But,  before  long — rough  work  rather,  of 
the  Rodin  school — the  mantel  was  adorned  with  six  or  seven 
objects  of  interest.  Virginia  created  an  unmistakable  head  of 
"Marie-Jose  de  Belgique";  Walter's  "Winged  Victory"  was  a 
chef  d'oeuvre;  my  own  work — privilege  of  authorship  in  more 
ways  than  one — it  is  becoming  not  to  mention!  However,  the 
enthusiasm  for  sculpture  was  not  very  prolonged,  as  with  the 
exception  of  Walter — who  will  always  try  anything  once — the 
men  took  no  interest,  and  when  the  men  take  no  interest,  it  is  a 
matter  of  serious  consideration  to  the  women!  Just  why  they 
took  no  interest,  is  of  course  a  matter  of  conjecture,  but  I 
strongly  suspect  they  hate  undertaking  anything  they  can't  see 
themselves  excelling  in,  and  it's  not  so  thundering  simple  to 
startle  the  world  as  a  sculptor! 


Monday 
March  ijtb 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Tuesday 
March  1.^ 


THE  future  may  have  other  days  like  to-day,  but  I'll  war- 
rant there  has  never  been  one  before.  The  fear  of  ridi- 
cule, which  hurts  me  just  as  much  as  it  does  you,  is  the  only 
thing  that  prevents  me  from  going  into  ecstatic  detail  over  the 
sky  and  the  water,  the  temperature  of  a  warm  day  with  a  cool 
breeze,  a  smooth  sea,  a  sunset  in  Magdalena  Bay,  and  an  almost 
sunlike  brilliant  moon.  I  really  would  like  to  borrow  all  the 
expressions  of  a  Hitchens  "Garden-of-Allah"  chapter  or  two,  and 
then  add  a  few  of  my  own,  but  you'll  make  fun  of  me  if  I 
describe  it  as  I  see  it,  because  my  attempt  at  eloquence  would  be 
childishly  pathetic.  Fancy  writing  all  I  intend  to,  and  then  hav- 
ing you  fling  it  in  the  wastepaper  basket  on  the  morning  of  the 
second  day, just  because  it  was  a  beautiful  day!  The  irony  of  it! 
This  morning  began  by  being  Moving  Picture  day  with  a 
vengeance.  Poor  Mr.  Aldrich  was  given  enough  advice  about 
how  to  set  up  his  camera,  and  how  to  take  the  pictures,  to  last 
him  through  the  rest  of  what  I  trust  will  be  a  long  and  happy 
life!  If  the  men  hadn't  been  in  .a  state  of  almost  complete 
exhaustion  from  the  argument  of  the  previous  evening  over  the 
"metacentre"  of  a  boat,  they'd  still  be  discussing  the  advisa- 
bility of  an  8-stop  as  opposed  to  a  16,  and  20  feet  distance  as 
preferable  to  10.  Mr.  Aldrich  plays  no  favorites.  The  wisdom 
and  justice  of  a  Solomon  were  exhibited.  After  half  a  dozen 
rehearsals,  he  wound  off  a  picture  with  an  8-stop  at  10  feet  and 
then  a  complete  repetition  of  events  with  a  i6-stop  at  20  feet. 
Can  a  man  be  more  tactful,  more  considerate?  "Please  every- 
body," that's  his  motto,  and  he  is  going  to  stick  to  it.  As  "movie 
actors"  I  can't  say  we  shone.  Charlie  Chaplin  need  have  no 
qualms  over  being  done  out  of  his  $10,000  a  week  through  any 
competition  of  ours.  We  were  just  a  band  of  self-conscious,  jib- 
bering  idiots,  and  the  worst  of  it  is,  with  two  entirely  separate 
sets  of  pictures,  it's  bound  to  be  proved! 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


The  first  sight  of  land  since  leaving  San  Pedro  caused  a  mild 
stir  of  excitement,  but  I  rather  hated  it;  there  was  a  suggestion 
in  my  mind  that  we'd  land  and  that  then  I  should  wake  up  and 
find  myself  at  home  and  begin  to  ponder  over  the  fertility  of 
imagination  in  dreams! 

At  six  or  thereabouts,  we  ran  into  Magdalena  Bay,  where  the 
sun  set  as  before  mentioned,  in  a  manner  I  refrain  from  describ- 
ing, though  I  'm  positively  pining  to  do  so. 

After  dinner,  armed  with  cushions  and  rugs,  everybody  went 
up  to  the  fo 'castle  deck  and  huddled  together  for  all  the  world 
like  a  lot  of  Belgian  refugees  exhausted  from  tramping  to  a 
place  of  safety.  The  moon,  the  still  cool  air,  the  peace  of  it  all, 
was  just  permeating  everybody  and  everything,  when,  shades 
of  good  judgment,  wisdom  and  common  sense,  that  deplorable 
doctor — to  whom  it  is  forbidden  to  make  love — (and  "Cappie" 
right  there  too,  practically  inextricably  there!)  said  there  was 
a  heavy  dew,  and  what  is  more,  like  Alice  in  Wonderland,  he 
said  it  three  times,  so  we  knew  it  was  true,  and  there  was  noth- 
ing left  to  do  but  "to  take  up  our  beds  and  walk."  He  just 
drove  us  to  it:  gambling,  I  mean!  There  we  all  were,  in  the  most 
receptive  mood  possible,  dwelling  secretly  and  deliciously  on 
the  beauty  of  nature,  and  secretly  and  deliciously  aware  of  our 
marvelous  individual  sense  of  appreciation,  when  BANG!  we're 
driven  back  to  commonplace  realities;  shuffling  cards,  wrang- 
ling over  dollars  and  cents.  Now  what  on  earth  is  one  to  do  with 
beautiful  thoughts,  with  such  a  man  on  board?  (I  know;  you 
think  I  am  grumbling  at  him  because  he  is  the  man  one  is  for- 
bidden to  make  love  to;  perhaps  you've  guessed  right!) 

We  passed  a  ship  bound  for  San  Pedro  later  on,  but  the  Cyprus 
didn't  slow  down,  so  of  course  we  only  had  the  merest  fleeting 
2oth  Century  Limited  glimpse  of  a  few  lights.  "Spark"  (that's 
the  appropriate  nickname  of  our  wireless  operator)  was  kindly 


Tuesday 
March  i 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


8 


Tuesday 
March 


Thursday 
March  16th 


enough  disposed  to  call  out  a  friendly  "Hello,"  but  the  ship 
that  passed  in  the  night  was  a  jealous  old  cat,  and  pretended 
to  be  busy  with  very  important  messages  in  Spanish  to  San 
Pedro,  and  hadn't  the  time  or  the  inclination  to  waste,  on  a 
beautiful  bright  young  girl  like  the  Cyprus.  She  slunk  out  of 
sight,  the  envious  old  tub,  but  she  hasn't  forgotten  us.  We 
rankle  in  her  hard  old  heart.  We're  much  too  happy  to  be  mean 
though,  and  we're  rather  sorry  for  her,  and  glad  of  the  certainty 
that  she  can't  meet  any  ship  that  sails  the  seas  on  the  rest  of 
her  dreary  voyage,  that  can  give  her  another  such  pang. 


E 


kARLY  this  morning,  that  is,  nine  or  thereabouts,  we 
steamed  into  the  harbor  of  Manzanillo.  We  saw  a  small 
bay  surrounded  by  rugged  hills,  and  with  the  town  just  build- 
ing itself  here  and  there,  wherever  its  fancy  led.  From  a 
distance,  it  reminded  one  of  the  steep  hilly  towns  in  the  mining 
sections  of  Nevada  County,  California,  but  a  nearer  glimpse  sug- 
gested no  place  that  I  have  ever  seen  before.  The  Cyprus  hoisted 
the  Mexican  flag  after  peeking  surreptitiously  about  for  any 
signs  of  hostility  (you  see,  we  had  had  no  news  for  more  than 
four  days)  and  then  raised  a  yellow  flag,  which,  for  the  benefit 
of  any  ignoramus  like  myself  (if  there  is  another)  was  an  invita- 
tion to  the  Health  Officers  to  come  on  board.  Soon  a  dejected 
looking  rowboat  put  off,  and  the  Collector  of  the  Port,  accom- 
panied by  the  Physician  and  some  other  men,  boarded  us.  They 
were  very  courteous  and  offered  us  the  hospitality  of  Mexico! 
Jack  offered  them  some  hospitality  of  perhaps  a  more  immedi- 
ately welcome  kind  and  they  all  sat  in  a  circle  in  the  dining 
room,  imbibing  it!  After  bows  and  salutations  they  departed, 
leaving  a  representative  on  board  so  that  we  might  be  assured 
of  not  being  annoyed  by  pedlars;  incidentally  we  rather  sus- 
pected that  there  may  have  also  been  some  idea  back  of  it  to 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


the  effect  that  in  view  of  our  "chaperone"  we  would  be  unable 
to  do  any  smuggling!  When  the  "chaperone"  left,  Jack  recom- 
pensed him  with  a  hundred  dollar  bill  in  payment  for  the  hour 
or  two  of  his  valuable  time  which  was  consumed  at  our  expense! 
But  the  hundred  dollar  bill — though  I  hate  to  spoil  a  good 
story — was  about  equal  to  $2.50! 

After  these  little  formalities  we  all  went  over  to  Manzanillo. 
The  shore  was  lined  with  men  and  boys,  mostly  dressed  in  white 
trousers,  colored  shirts,  and  each  and  every  one  wearing  a  som- 
brero. I  don't  suppose  they  were  in  the  least  unfriendly;  indeed 
in  their  strange  indolent  way  they  were  doubtless  interested  in 
our  arrival,  as  much  as  they  were  capable  of  being  interested  in 
anything,  but  they  all  wore  a  rather  sullen  look.  I  fancy  we  would 
wear  a  more  sullen  one  still,  if  we  lived  in  Manzanillo! 

We  walked  through  dry,  dusty,  dirty  streets  to  the  Consul's — 
Mr.  Steddan's— office,  taking  pictures  as  we  strolled.  Jack  invited 
Mr.  Steddan  to  luncheon  and  asked  him  to  bring  his  friends  as 
well.  Then  we  explored  the  town,  and  saw  all  kinds  and  condi- 
tions of  things.  The  first  place  we  entered  was  a  saloon!  Spa- 
cious, cool  and  inviting,  I  must  say.  My  eye  lighted  on  a  sign 
over  the  Bar,  which  read:  "Cerveza  $4.00."  Translated,  this 
means:  "Beer  10  cents."  An  American  named  Garrett  ap- 
parently owned  the  place,  and  a  most  friendly  and  genial  person 
he  was.  In  the  back  of  the  saloon  were  the  usual  court  yard  and 
sheds,  and  perched  up  in  one  corner  of  a  shed  was  a  pros- 
perous-looking monkey.  He  was  by  far  the  most  affluent  look- 
ing inhabitant  of  Manzanillo.  Garrett  handed  him  a  bottle  of 
beer  (at  $4.00  per  bottle!)  and  if  my  very  amateurish  kodak 
pictures  come  out,  you  will  see  that  he  had  more  than  a  vague 
idea  of  what  to  do  with  it.  Some  Mexicans  wandered  in  with 
wonderfully  beautiful  aigrettes  for  sale,  but  we  knew  it  was  a 
useless  extravagance  to  buy  any,  as  we  would  not  be  permitted 


Thursday 
March  i6tib 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


10 


Thursday 
March  16th 


to  enter  any  port  in  the  United  States  with  them  in  our  posses- 
sion. O  Land  of  the  Free!  There  were  some  lovely  soft  gray 
feathers  however,  etched  as  it  were  in  a  darker  shade,  and 
Walter — the  Prince — presented  his  bride  with  some  of  these. 
Garrett  pointed  out  his  own  house  to  us,  seemingly  suspended 
in  mid-air  halfway  up  the  steep  hill  above.  The  entire  first  floor 
was  a  chicken  yard,  and  over  this  were  the  porch  and  dwelling 
rooms.  There  was  a  kind  of  perpetual-moving  merry-go-round 
tilted  at  an  angle  on  the  porch  railing,  with  sailing  ships  in  mini- 
ature, at  about  the  same  distance  apart  as  the  hobby  horses  on 
a  real  merry-go-round;  it  appeared  to  hang  over  the  balustrade 
like  a  blanket  put  out  to  air!  For  a  while  it  puzzled  me  a  good 
deal,  as  it  seemed  to  be  too  big  and  ponderous  for  a  toy,  until 
I  learned  of  the  pest  of  flies  and  mosquitoes  that  infest  the  place 
in  summer.  We  wandered  on  up  the  street,  if  you  can  call  it 
that,  and  everything  we  saw  was  immensely  interesting. 
Apparently  the  only  industry  to  be  observed  was  lorded  over 
by  the  man  who  owned  a  machine  for  grinding  corn.  Women 
and  children  stood  in  line  waiting  patiently,  with  bowls  and  in 
fact  every  conceivable  kind  of  receptacle  filled  with  unground 
corn,  gossiping  lazily,  and  only  interrupting  themselves  and 
each  other,  when  the  Corn  Grinder  Chief  showed  some  pref- 
erence for  a  black-eyed  damsel,  and  accepted  her  dish  out  of 
turn.  The  futility  of  protesting  vehemently  however  must  have 
long  since  been  abandoned,  for  it  was  inevitable  that  they 
should  wait  their  turn  or  the  Corn  Grinder's  pleasure.  There 
would  be  no  alternative. 

Considering  the  extreme  poverty  of  the  place  it  struck  me  as 
being  remarkable  that  although  there  were  only  a  handful  of 
houses,  I  must  have  seen  and  heard  at  least  a  dozen  typewriters. 
The  people  are  dirty  and  slovenly  and  sodden  to  the  last  degree, 
and  yet  as  we  walked  by  their  houses,  the  interiors  looked  fairly 


ZS 

H 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


clean.  Needless  to  say  all  doors  and  windows  are  left  wide  open.  Thursday 
The  floors  appeared  to  be  washed  and  swept,  and  things  more  March 
or  less  in  their  place.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  their  rooms  are 
neat  only  because  they  are  never  in  them,  for  practically  the 
entire  population  was  in  the  street.  To  be  sure  one  had  glimpses 
of  dogs,  chickens,  and  even  a  kind  of  pet  pelican  strolling  about 
the  rooms  or  roosting  on  tables  or  chairs  with  perfect  serenity, 
but  on  the  whole  the  houses  looked  about  90  per  cent  cleaner 
than  the  inhabitants.  At  a  corner  of  the  main  street  there  was 
a  little  cart  perched  on  two  high  wheels,  with  its  owner  standing 
contentedly  by,  selling  cocoanut  milk  (probably  at  $2  per  cup) 
and  some  thick  sweet  syrupy  stuff,  which  looked  decidedly 
European.  Such  poor  half-starved  mangey  dogs  I  could  never 
have  believed  existed!  They  were  the  most  pathetic-looking 
objects  imaginable.  I  should  like  to  collect  them  one  and  all 
and  take  them  to  a  cool  clean  country  where  they  might  regain 
their  canine  self-respect,  poor  miserable  creatures.  And  such 
horses  and  such  burros!  At  intervals  they  would  come  shamb- 
ling down  the  street,  just  a  moving  rack  of  bones,  about  as  big 
as  a  really  good-sized  goat,  with  a  full-sized  man  astride,  often 
leading  a  poor  overburdened  pack-beast  after  him.  Always  the 
man  wore  dirty  white  trousers  and  always  a  perfectly  enormous 
sombrero,  one  that  only  just  missed  spreading  a  bit  of  shade 
over  the  poor  unfortunate  burro's  head  too.  We  had  a  glimpse 
of  the  school — a  child  at  the  blackboard;  one  couldn't  help  but 
wonder  whether  any  good  would  come  of  her  learning,  if  she 
were  destined  to  spend  the  remainder  of  her  forlorn  existence  in 
Manzanillo.  Two  other  little  girls  I  noticed  were  doing  embroid- 
ery, apparently  waiting  their  turn  at  the  blackboard.  It  all 
seemed  so  futile  and  so  pathetic  as  conditions  exist  there  to-day. 
The  market  place  was  populated  chiefly  with  vultures,  but 
there  were  a  few  stalls  around  the  cleared  space  where  natives 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


I  2 


Thursday 
March  i6tb 


were  gathered  in  groups.  We  followed  on  up  the  street,  past  the 
booths,  and  found  ourselves  in  what  we  guessed  without  diffi- 
culty to  be  the  least  respectable,  but  obviously  a  much  fre- 
quented part  of  town.  It  was  despicably  sordid,  revolting; 
perhaps  more  deserving  of  our  sympathy  than  all  the  rest.  Back 
through  the  cobbled  streets  we  ambled  along,  and  when  I  say 
"ambled"  I  mean  we  actually  did  so.  An  hour  in  Manzanillo 
had  already  left  its  little  mark.  We  stopped  and  looked  into 
shops  and  sheds  and  stared  at  the  strange  motley  crowd  who 
were  not  even  interested  in  us  sufficiently  to  attempt  to  sell 
anything. 

Up  another  narrow  street  we  came  to  the  Church,  built  all  of 
brick  with  a  tiled  roof  and  situated  on  the  height  as  churches 
nearly  always  are  in  pioneer  countries,  overlooking  the  harbor 
and  the  town.  A  huge  bell  in  the  garden  and  two  others  above 
gave  the  place  a  semblance  of  an  old  mission,  which  no  doubt 
it  was.  Painted  blue  benches  in  the  little  chapel  and  the  usual 
tawdry  lace  altar  cloths  and  chromos  on  the  wall, — but  the 
doors  wide  open  for  the  stranger  and  the  outcast,  as  all  Catholic 
Church  doors  are,  and  as  the  doors  of  all  churches  ought  to  be. 
Wherever  you  may  be  in  the  whole  of  the  great  wide  world, — 
if  you  're  turned  out  of  house  and  home,  out  of  the  public  square 
or  out  of  jail,  the  Catholic  Church  is  a  refuge.  You  may  find 
shelter  there  for  as  long  as  you  like,  and  perhaps,  if  you  believe, 
you  may  find  something  else  besides. 

The  color  of  the  terrace  stones  and  the  tiles  had  softened  to  an 
infinitely  beautiful  shade  and  a  great  spreading  mimosa  tree 
made  one  wish  to  see  it  all  by  moonlight.  It  was  easy  and 
tempting  to  picture  the  shadows  and  the  great  bell  and  the 
dimly  lighted  town  and  the  dark,  still  harbor. 

Just  as  we  started  back  for  the  launch,  a  Mexican  transport 
steamed  into  the  bay,  and  we  had  a  brief  moment  of  wondering 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


&h:£& 


what  was  up.  We  ran  up  close  to  her  however,  and  a  more 
dejected  set  of  trampy-looking  objects  one  couldn't  conceive 
of.  The  boat  herself  was  a  disgrace  to  any  country,  even  Mexico. 
There  seemed  to  be  more  women  than  men  aboard,  but  per- 
haps that  was  merely  because,  as  usual,  they  succeeded  in  being 
more  in  evidence!  Wherever  the  troops  go,  their  women  go 
with  them.  The  Bonita  de  Guaymas  didn't  bother  us  however. 
That  was  the  last  of  her  as  far  as  we  were  concerned,  though 
we  learned  she  carried  troops  which  were  to  be  landed  at  Man- 
zanillo  and  sent  on  to  the  interior. 

As  soon  as  we  got  back  to  the  Cyprus,  the  men  all  began  to 
fish.  Mr.  Tooker  caught  a  great  floundering  thing  that  I  can't 
name,  but  I  ought  to  have  a  most  impressive  photograph  of 
one  of  the  crew  holding  it  up,  if  only  my  kodaks  come  out  as 
they  should. 

Mr.  Steddan,  Mr.  Dunn,  Mr.  Wilbur  and  Mr.  Bell  then 
arrived  for  luncheon,  which  I  am  convinced  was  a  great  pleasure 
to  them,  as  it  was  indeed  for  us.  It  was  most  interesting  to  hear 
their  views  on  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Mexico,  and  we  shud- 
dered to  think  what  they  are  actually  driven  to  put  up  with. 
Mr.  Wilbur  has  a  ranch  up  country  and  he  told  us  of  how  three 
times  within  the  past  few  weeks  bandits  had  come  and  had 
taken  everything  that  they  could  lay  their  hands  upon.  On  one 
occasion  they  had  asked  Mr.  Steddan  for  stores  or  for  something 
that  he  actually  did  not  have,  and  after  giving  him  twenty-four 
hours  to  procure  the  desired  but  non-existent  plunder,  they 
burned  one  of  his  largest  and  most  productive  palm  groves. 
Both  these  men  told  us  many  tales  of  injustice,  but  they  have 
absolutely  no  redress.  There  is  nothing  to  do.  Until  a  few  days 
ago,  the  main  railroad  which  runs  direct  to  El  Paso  came  in 
every  day,  but  now  that  is  stopped  and  they  are  cut  off  from 
all  communication  by  land.  The  entire  pier  was  burned  in  1914 


Thursday 
March  i6tb 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Thursday 
March  i6th 


Friday 
March  itb 


by  Huerta  soldiers,  when  they  saw  an  American  warship  come 
into  the  harbor.  Over  on  a  sandy  beach  there  is  a  skeleton  of  a 
steam  schooner  that  was  burned  and  destroyed  at  the  same 
time  as  the  pier.  They  tried  to  blow  up  the  break-water  (for- 
tunately they  were  unsuccessful  in  this),  and  then  disappeared 
into  the  interior. 

It  was  "Cappie  V  birthday  to-day  and  he  had  a  real  child's 
party!  He  was  dressed  for  dinner  in  a  sailor  suit,  and  certainly 
nobody  could  have  guessed  his  age  either  from  his  appearance 
or  his  actions!  Virginia  had  a  cake  with  candles  and  all  the  rest 
of  it;  Mary  got  the  ring,  a  work  of  art  made  by  the  Chief  En- 
gineer, and  I  had  more  than  my  share  of  luck  by  finding  the 
anchor  and  the  money  too.  "Cappie"  was  in  fine  form  and 
made  a  speech  of  course,  to  which  Jack  responded,  and  there 
were  Alphonse  and  Gaston  "Soy  siempre  a  la  disposicion'  de 
Usted,"  etc.  etc.  The  best  I  can  wish  anybody  is  that  they  have 
enjoyed  the  day  as  much  as  I  have. 

AT  1 1  :oo  this  morning  we  ran  into  the  harbor  of  Acapulco.  It 
is  a  really  beautiful  spot,  situated  somewhat  the  same  as 
Manzanillo  but  rather  more  tropical  looking.  There  are  the 
same  high  hills,  but  a  little  more  vegetation,  several  groves  of 
cocoanut  palms  along  the  shores,  and  the  most  inviting  looking 
sandy  beaches  dotted  here  and  there.  A  fairly  large  schooner  lay 
anchored  just  in  front  of  a  V  break  in  the  hills,  and  five  tall 
palm  trees  loomed  up  in  the  opening.  I  had  a  vision  of  the  sun 
setting  just  exactly  in  that  spot,  and,  as  we  seem  to  have 
reached  the  land  where  dreams  come  true,  that  is  exactly  what 
happened.  The  picture  lasted  only  a  very  few  minutes,  but  it 
was  a  glorious  one. 

The  usual  formalities  were  observed  on  entering  a  foreign  port, 
and  with  astonishing  promptness  a  small  boat  came  paddling 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


out.  It  was  newer  and  cleaner  and  gayer  than  Manzanillo's 
best,  and  there  were  some  bright  colored  materials  thrown  over 
the  seats,  and  an  awning  which  gave  it  quite  a  holiday  appear- 
ance. One  of  the  new  arrivals  was  Carranza's  Secretary  of  State 
who  had  been  there  just  a  few  days  on  his  way  elsewhere. 

They  didn't  remain  on  board  very  long  and  we  followed  soon 
after  their  departure,  curious  to  see  the  town.  First  we  went  to 
the  American  Consul's  house,  accompanied  by  a  self-appointed 
guide  who  walked  in,  nothing  daunted,  quite  as  if  he  were  the 
guest  of  honor  of  the  party!  He  was  gotten  rid  of,  however,  in 
the  usual  way!  The  Consul,  Mr.  Edwards,  and  his  wife  were 
very  charming  and  hospitable.  Mr.  Edwards  was  tremendously 
interested  in  hearing  such  outside  news  as  Jack  was  able  to  give 
him.  As  there  is  no  railroad  into  Acapulco,  except  an  unfinished 
and  abandoned  one — and  as  all  their  communications  by  tele- 
graph are  temporarily  suspended,  they  are  in  almost  complete 
ignorance  of  what  is  going  on.  Mrs.  Edwards  took  us  up  to  the 
second  story  of  her  house  where  we  had  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful views  of  the  bay  that  one  could  possibly  imagine.  The  house, 
upstairs  and  down,  is  built  with  wide  porches  on  either  side,  and 
the  rooms  looked  delightfully  cool  with  a  welcome  draught 
blowing  through,  which  must  be  a  blessing,  for  the  heat  is 
intense.  They  told  us  we  had  been  signalled  as  a  warship,  and 
they  had  not  been  particularly  surprised,  as  they  had  more 
than  expected  that  a  warship  would  shortly  be  on  its  way  there. 
Virginia  tried  to  persuade  them  to  come  back  to  the  Cyprus 
and  lunch  with  us,  but  they  were  afraid  to  go  out  into  the  sun 
at  that  time  of  the  day,  for  which  one  could  hardly  blame  them. 
Mr.  Edwards  had  been  ill  and  we  left  Dr.  Allen  at  their  house, 
while  we  explored  the  town.  We  were  all  relieved  to  know  that 
he  had  been  able  to  reassure  Mrs.  Edwards  to  some  extent,  as 
she  appeared  to  be  so  very  worried  and  nervous  about  her 


Friday 
March 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Friday 
March  iftb 


husband; indeed,  who  wouldn  't  be,  living  in  such  a  God-for-saken 
hole  without  a  doctor  within  hundreds  of  miles?  Mrs.  Edwards 
has  been  there  for  five  years,  and  is  the  only  American  woman 
in  the  town.  Until  quite  recently,  she  was  the  only  English- 
speaking  woman.  There  are  now  one  or  two  Mexican  women 
who  speak  a  little  English.  She  neither  looked  nor  seemed  to  be 
in  the  least  discontented  with  her  lot,  and  when  some  one  asked 
her  if  she  didn't  hate  being  so  out  of  the  world,  so  away  from 
everything,  she  said  with  a  really  touching  sincerity  that  she 
didn't  mind  in  the  very  least,  so  long  as  she  could  be  with  her 
husband.  Last  August  there  had  been  a  revolution  in  the  very 
streets  surrounding  them.  Their  house  is  marked  by  a  number 
of  bullet  holes,  and  when  we  started  on  our  exploration  of  the 
town,  the  Church  in  the  Square,  or  rather  what  remains  of  it,  is 
proof  of  the  amount  of  damage  done.  They  are  now  restoring 
it,  and  half  a  dozen  men  were  working,  almost  noiselessly  and 
absolutely  silently,  at  the  paving  of  the  floor.  I  heard  one  of  the 
workmen  speak  aloud,  though  almost  in  a  whisper,  whereupon 
one  of  the  others  put  his  finger  over  his  mouth  and  shook  his 
head  disapprovingly. 

We  walked  all  through  the  streets  and  even  up  to  the  Fort 
which  was  quite  impressive  looking,  surrounded  as  it  was  by  a 
deep  dry  moat.  But  we  were  waived  out  most  unceremoniously 
by  a  glum-looking  guard  when  we  attempted  to  enter.  The 
town  of  Acapulco  is  really  far  more  picturesque,  looks  older, 
and  would  perhaps  have  been  more  interesting  to  wander  about 
in  than  Manzanillo,  but  it  was  a  good  deal  warmer,  and  long 
past  luncheon  time,  so  that  there  seemed  to  be  but  little  desire 
to  linger.  Personally  I  was  conscious  of  a  kind  of  inimical  feel- 
ing amongst  the  people  in  the  streets;  they  seemed  to  me  to  be 
very  unfriendly:  a  kind  of  cowardly  undercurrent  of  hidden 
hostility,  as  though  they  had  been  warned  but  not  commanded 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


by  their  Chief.  Probably  this  was  all  imagination  however.  We 
returned  to  the  Cyprus  at  about  three  o'clock  for  luncheon,  glad 
to  feel  the  coolish  breeze  in  the  harbor  once  again. 

Quantities  of  small  boats  surrounded  the  Cyprus:  pedlars  with 
every  known  kind  of  useless  trash  for  sale.  The  crew  amused 
themselves  by  bargaining  for  a  few  souvenirs,  and  for  the  large 
sum  of  twenty-five  cents  I  bought  a  basket  which  is  going  to 
be  a  great  joy  to  me,  in  fact  already  is!  My  sewing,  books, 
writing  materials  and  camera,  and  my  tripod,  all  fit  in  to  per- 
fection, and  the  mania  for  neatness  which  prevails  on  the 
Cyprus  is  thus  complied  with,  and  I  am  at  last  able  to  find  my 
belongings,  and  I  love  it!  After  the  real  tragedy  of  losing  my 
favorite  pen  through  having  had  it  substituted  for  a  brand  new 
one,  I  speak  feelingly! 

Virginia,  "Cappie,"  Mr.  Aldrich  and  Walter  braved  all  the 
terrors  of  the  deep,  and  had  a  swim,  and  now  we  are  once  more 
on  our  way.  To-night  the  phosphorescence  in  the  water  was 
perfectly  beautiful.  Every  wave  that  broke  was  tipped  with 
brilliant  luminous  tints:  the  colors  of  a  highly  polished  abalone 
shell.  It  lasted  only  for  a  very  short  time,  much  to  our  dis- 
appointment. 

EST  night  it  was  terrifically  hot!  Walter  took  time  by  the 
forelock  and  had  a  cot  brought  up  on  deck  which  was  the 
only  intelligent  thing  to  do,  and  Mr.  Aldrich  had  the  good  sense 
to  go  up  and  join  him.  In  the  engine  room,  the  thermometer  was 
145  degrees,  and  the  men  could  only  work  in  15  minute  shifts. 

We  passed  the  Cleveland  in  the  night,  on  her  way  to  Acapulco, 
and  we  surmise  that  she  is  bound  for  that  point  to  rescue  the 
handful  of  Americans,  who,  in  case  of  trouble  of  any  kind,  are 
powerless  to  defend  themselves.  I  devoutly  hope  that  such  is 
the  case,  as  my  heart  aches  for  poor  Mrs.  Edwards. 


Friday 
March  I'jtb 


Saturday 
March  i8tb 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Saturday 
March  18* 


No  events,  adventures  or  remarks  this  morning  except  that 
the  log  was  lost.  Presumably  it  was  swallowed  by  a  fish!  There 
was  a  fairly  brisk  breeze  and  a  little  swell,  the  first  we've  had 
since  leaving  San  Pedro.  We  ran  close  to  the  coast  all  morning. 
Very  high  mountains  sloping  down  to  the  whitest  sandiest 
beaches  imaginable,  and  in  some  cases  whole  hillsides  covered 
with  white  sand  giving  one  some  idea  of  the  violence  of  the 
winds  at  times  on  this  coast! 

After  luncheon  (which  doesn't  mean  very  early  in  the  after- 
noon) we  reached  Salina  Cruz.  From  the  Cyprus,  as  we  steamed 
in,  it  looked  like  the  busiest  and  most  prosperous  of  ports,  as 
there  was  a  most  impressive  looking  breakwater,  and  the  entire 
shore  was  lined  with  enormous  warehouses.  Great  cranes  and 
derricks  placed  at  frequent  intervals  suggested  commercial 
activities  of  a  serious  and  important  nature.  However,  having 
received  the  Collector  of  the  Port  and  the  Health  Officer  we 
landed  to  find  a  complete  absence  of  both  people  and  business. 
One  could  hardly  picture  a  more  abandoned  looking  place, 
though  we  learned  later  that  some  business  was  actually 
transacted,  an  amount  however  entirely  out  of  proportion 
to  its  possibilities. 

The  wind  was  blowing  so  furiously  that  with  very  little  per- 
suasion we  might  have  believed  it  had  blown  every  one  away! 
We  tried,  but  in  vain,  to  find  some  shelter  while  waiting  for  a 
special  train  to  take  us  to  Tehuan tepee.  It  took  them  about  an 
hour  to  get  this  in  order,  but  I  for  one  would  have  waited 
twenty-four  hours  in  a  worse  wind  storm  or  any  other  kind 
of  a  storm,  quite  cheerfully,  to  have  seen  the  city  of  Tehuante- 
pec.  I  may  remark  that  the  Special  Train  consisted  of  an  engine 
and  an  old  box  car,  into  which  we  all  climbed — the  shorties,  I 
speak  from  experience,  with  some  difficulties!  We  were  handed 
a  bench  and  four  chairs  (for  12,  people)  but  as  it  is  only  12  miles, 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


while  we  were  waiting  for  the  train  on  the  steps  of  the  main 
store,  which  formed  a  kind  of  railroad  platform,  that  we  finally 
had  to  take  refuge  inside  the  shop,  where  a  sleepy  looking  clerk 
was  selling  calico  by  the  light  of  one  smoking  lamp,  but  not 
before  Walter  had  rescued  the  gourds  from  small  boys  who 
expected  to  earn  pennies  for  holding  them,  and  not  until  I  had 
raised  my  parasol  threateningly  at  the  beggars  who  persisted 
in  crowding  up  against  us,  and  Virginia  had  talked  to  them 
uninterruptedly  in  English,  telling  them  not  to  touch  her,  and 
that  she  didn't  like  dirty  people  leaning  up  against  her  and 
what  is  more  would  not  have  it!!  etc.  etc.  You  can  imagine  how 
much  attention  they  paid  to  such  remonstrances! 

We  got  back  to  Salina  Cruz  about  seven-thirty,  where  we 
picked  up  Mr.  Tooker  and  Mr.  Ellis,  the  English  Consul.  Mr. 
Tooker  had  gone  in  search  of  Mr.  Ellis  just  before  the  departure 
of  the  train  on  our  way  to  Tehuantepec,  and  we  had  been 
obliged  to  leave  without  them,  but  Mr.  Ellis  was  persuaded  to 
return  to  the  Cyprus  to  dine,  accompanied  by  Madge,  a  nice 
clean  white  puppy-dog,  the  first  I  Ve  dared  to  pet  since  I  left 
home.  Mr.  Ellis  was  most  entertaining.  I  wish  I  could  jot  down 
some  of  his  interesting  experiences  in  Mexico  and  some  of  the 
actual  facts  of  existing  Mexican  conditions  he  told  us  of,  but  I 
fear  I  am  too  inaccurate  to  attempt  it.  (How  my  family  will 
love  that  admission!)  He  left  the  boat  with  an  armful  of  books 
and  papers.  In  every  port  such  gifts  have  been  received  more 
than  gratefully,  and  Mr.  Tooker  had  thoughtfully  brought  a 
large  supply.  Any  one  who  makes  this  trip  will  go  down  in  the 
history  of  these  people  as  a  real  Fairy  Godmother  if  they 
remember  to  bring  books  and  papers  to  distribute  as  they  go. 

NO  PORTS  to-day.  We  followed  the  coast  line  very  closely— 
flat  tropical  lands  dotted  here  and   there  with  native 


2  I 


Saturday 
March  l8th 


Sunday 
March 


22 


Sunday 
March  itb 


Monday 
March  2Otb 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


shacks  built  of  thatched  corn  or  sugar  cane,  I  don't  know  which, 
probably  both.  At  four  we  approached  the  wreck  of  the  Sisosfris, 
a  ship  of  some  6000  tons  which  ran  up  on  the  beach  seven  or 
eight  years  ago  and  which  they  have  never  been  able  to  float, 
though  we  are  told  that  many  attempts  have  been  made  and 
that  one  company  spent  something  like  $50,000  in  a  fruitless 
effort.  Jack  says  she  is  probably  worth  half  a  million  dollars  or 
more,  but  there  she  is,  poised  majestically  on  the  beach,  broad- 
side, defiant.  The  Cyprus  stopped  so  that  we  might  have  a 
really  good  look  at  her,  and  incidentally  we  let  out  a  shark  line 
and  some  of  the  men  fished  with  spinners  for  whatever  their 
lines  might  bring  in.  No  luck  however,  and  as  we  were  bobbing 
up  and  down  a  good  deal  more  than  Mary  and  Virginia  liked, 
we  didn't  delay  there  very  long! 

THIS  morning  every  one  got  up  at  five  a.  m.  and  we  started 
off  on  a  day  which  proved  to  be  one  of  many  adventures. 
The  port,  or  rather  the  stopping  place,  for  there  is  no  harbor  at 
all,  was  San  Jose.  It  is  just  like  jumping  off  a  railroad  train 
running  at  30  miles  an  hour,  to  stop  at  San  Jose!  There  is  a  pier 
to  be  sure,  but  it  looks  as  though  the  breakers  would  demolish 
it  at  any  moment.  We  had  some  difficulty  in  landing  on  a 
rickety  broken-down  stairway,  but  eventually  we  all  got  safely 
on  shore  and  "Cappie"  made  the  brilliant  remark  that  he 
adored  surf  bathing,  and  had  he  known  how  nice  the  beach  was, 
he  would  have  gotten  up  early  and  come  on  shore  to  get  the  full 
benefit  of  THE  BREAKERS!!!!!  Considering  the  fact  that  we 
were  all  up  at  FIVE,  including  his  august  self,  we  concluded  he 
must  be  supplied  with  a  different  set  of  time  values  to  ours! 

A  very  impressive  looking  private  train  had  been  provided, 
with  an  observation  car,  the  Samala,  with  a  large  platform  we 
could  all  sit  out  on,  tables  and  wicker  chairs  inside,  and,  in  fact, 


i 

San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 

1 

,-.-, 

that  wasn  't  in  the  least  a  hardship,  and  I  think  every  one  looked     Saturday 

upon  it  as  a  lark.  We  passed  a  number  of  ox  carts  hauling  great     Marf"  *& 

sheaves  of  corn  and  green  bananas,  and  twice  the  train  stopped 

with  a  terrific  jerk  because  of  a  stray  calf  on  the  tracks!  We 

seemed  to  be  making  at  least  40  miles  an  hour,  and  we  dis- 

covered that  an  old  freight  car  attached  to  an  engine,  running 

at  that  rate  of  speed  over  a  Mexican-laid  railway,  can  dance 

about  on  the  rails  a  good  deal. 

We  arrived  in  Tehuantepec,  however,  without  delay  or  acci- 

dent,  and  a  more  picturesque  (I  Ve  used  that  word  a  thousand 

times,  I  know,  but  it  is  the  only  one  that  expresses  at  all  what 

in  my  ignorance  I  am  trying  to  convey  as  an  impression,  and  I 

am  going  to  go  on  using  it  a  thousand  times  more!)  town  surely 

does  not  exist  anywhere.  A  troop  train  was  just  leaving  the 

station,  filled  according  to  the  custom  with  women  and  children 

as  well  as  soldiers.  Quite  a  procession  of  others  trudged  along 

from  the  town  to  the  station  to  see  them  off.  Women  were 

balancing  huge  baskets  on  their  heads,  baskets  filled  to  over- 

flowing with  fruits  and  flowers.  Sometimes  for  a  moment  as 

they  passed,  the  air  would  be  saturated  with  the  odor  of  tube- 

roses and  other  sweet  smelling  flowers—  a  welcome  change,  I 

am  forced  to  admit!  One  and  all  they  were  dressed  in  the  most 

brilliant  colored  prints  and  calicoes.  The  men,  in  spite  of  the 

heat  of  the  day,  wore  a  flaming  red  or  striped  blanket  flung 

carelessly  over  their  shoulders.  We  learned  afterwards  that  no 

one  but  the  Commanding  Officer  knew,  or  even  had  the  re- 

motest idea  of,  their  destination.  They  must  have  expected 

trouble,  for  three  men  armed  to  the  teeth  rode  on  the  front  of 

the  engine,  and  there  were  guards  similarly  armed  on  every 

coach. 

It  was  practically  the  close  of  day,  nearly  six,  when  we  arrived 

at  the  market  place.  The  usual  swarthy  men,  women  and  chil- 

on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Saturday 
March 


dren  were  squatting  on  the  ground  beside  their  wares,  and  there 
was  the  usual  tuneful  humming  sound  of  countless  low  voices. 

We  found  our  way  to  a  very  imposing  looking  church,  which 
we  entered  through  a  large  court  yard,  to  find  that  it  had  been 
turned  into  a  blacksmith  shop,  where  the  men  were  at  work,  in 
their  strange  rather  enviable  leisurely  way.  They  all  work  as 
though  there  were  plenty  of  time  to  use  and  enjoy  each  moment 
as  it  passes!  It  was  apparently  a  prosperous  blacksmith  shop, 
for  any  number  of  horses  were  tied  to  the  trees  out  in  the  court 
yard  awaiting  their  turn,  though  I  fancy  it  is  more  likely  that 
they  were  tied  there  while  their  masters  gossiped  with  the 
smith;  they  are  usually  the  old  women  of  small  towns.  A  portion 
of  the  altar  still  remained,  but  the  walls  were  hung  with  saddles 
and  straps  and  the  floor  strewn  with  cart  wheels  and  fittings. 
A  church  put  to  any  other  use  is,  I  think,  the  most  incongruous 
of  all  things.  I  believe  it  shocks  even  the  most  unreligious 
persons.  The  adjoining  cloister  was  crumbling  to  pieces  and 
chickens  were  roosting  contentedly  in  the  patio.  The  entire 
place  had  gone  to  rack  and  ruin! 

After  roaming  about  in  the  narrow  streets  for  awhile  we 
returned  to  the  market-place,  and  Mary,  Virginia  and  Walter 
started  off  in  search  of  painted  gourds.  They  were  gone  for  so 
long  that  we  all  thought  they  must  have  been  jailed  at  least, 
but  eventually  a  procession  came  threading  its  way  along, 
headed  by  Walter,  and  after  him  innumerable  children  balanc- 
ing the  gourds  on  their  heads,  and  the  woman  who  sold  them 
bringing  up  the  rear.  She  carried  a  fancy  beaded  purse  with 
great  pride,  which  she  obviously  brought  along  to  receive  her 
coin  in,  or  rather  her  rolls  and  rolls  of  paper  money.  She  prob- 
ably won't  do  another  stroke  of  work  during  the  rest  of  her 
lazy  existence! 

Such  a  mob  of  filthy  urchins  and  beggars  crowded  around  us 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


every  comfort.  The  servants  had  brought  drinks,  cigars  and 
cigarettes,  even  lunch  and  dinner.  All  things  are  thought  of,  and 
yet  you  never  hear  an  order  given. 

The  run  from  San  Jose  to  the  city  of  Guatemala  is  75  miles 
and  every  step  of  the  way  was  a  delight.  It  took  us  four  hours 
and  twenty  minutes,  running  all  the  way  through  marvelously 
interesting  country.  The  fences  on  either  side  of  the  tracks  are 
made  of  saplings  which  have  all  sprouted  and  most  of  them  have 
grown  into  fair-sized  trees  so  that  they  form  a  perfect  tree- 
hedge.  Barbed  wire  is  strung  along  these  all  the  way.  There  were 
gigantic  ceiba  trees,  with  their  close  dark  foliage,  and  many 
others  that  were  new  to  us,  but  the  most  beautiful  of  all  was  a 
tall  straight  one,  which  seemed  to  be  trimmed  almost  like  a 
glorified  standard,  its  whole  top  a  blazing  mass  of  yellow  flowers, 
a  great  luminous  mass  of  color  towering  above  everything.  It 
looked  not  unlike  the  spectacular  bursts  of  rockets  that  vanish 
in  mid-air  and  one  quite  expected  these  to  do  the  same.  They 
are  called  amarillo  trees.  There  were  groves  and  groves  of  date 
and  cocoanut  palms,  banana  trees  laden  with  fruit,  huge  mango 
trees,  and  field  after  field  of  sugar  cane  lined  either  side  of  our 
road.  The  volcanic  mountains  Agua  and  Fuega  loomed  up  in 
the  distance  at  a  height  of  12,000  feet  or  more,  with  filmy 
white  clouds  resting  lightly  on  their  sides.  These  mountains  rise 
so  precipitately  from  the  plain  below,  that  even  from  a  short 
distance,  they  almost  seem  to  be  a  mirage.  Exquisite  hibiscus 
flowers  bloomed  in  the  midst  of  the  tangle  of  greens,  and  great 
masses  of  bamboo  were  clustered  here  and  there.  We  saw  orchid 
plants  nestled  in  the  branches  of  trees,  and  every  tropical  thing 
you  could  think  of,  but  strangely  enough  no  birds.  Perhaps  the 
train  was  responsible  for  that.  Dotted  along  the  track  at  inter- 
vals were  tiny  native  settlements,  and  outside  their  funny  little 
thatched  huts,  whole  families  were  grouped  watching  the  train 


Monday 
March  2Otb 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Monday 
March  2Otb 


go  by,  which  is  evidently  still  infrequent  enough  to  cause 
wonder.  The  women,  almost  without  exception,  carried  heavily 
laden  baskets  or  water  bottles  on  their  heads,  and  were  always 
dressed  in  the  brightest  colors  imaginable.  Many  of  them  were 
washing  their  clothes  on  the  banks  of  the  streams.  They  were 
especially  numerous  on  the  edge  of  Amatitla,  a  beautiful  little 
lake  about  six  miles  long,  half  way  between  San  Jose  and  Guate- 
mala. From  here  on,  we  passed  many  ruins:  houses,  churches 
and  innumerable  adobe  brick  walls,  but  so  old  that  no  one 
knows  their  origin.  The  whole  town  was  presumably  destroyed 
by  earthquakes  which  are  very  prevalent  in  this  country.  Out 
of  the  tops  of  columns  and  walls,  shrubs  and  trees  of  consider- 
able size  were  flourishing.  The  land  in  this  section  is  all  culti- 
vated; not  an  available  square  foot  is  left  untilled.  We  were 
told  on  good  authority  that  the  choicest  land  is  worth  only  five 
dollars  an  acre,  though  in  the  city  of  Guatemala,  real  estate  is 
very  high. 

As  we  neared  the  city  we  saw  one  or  two  very  large  trees  that 
were  a  solid  mass  of  pink  flowers.  They  looked  like  huge  fruit 
trees  in  blossom,  except  that  the  flowers  were  so  much  larger 
than  any  fruit  blossom  I  have  ever  seen.  These  were  called 
roble  trees.  There  was  a  wonderful  blue  flowering  tree  too,  but 
after  many  and  varied  efforts,  I  was  unable  to  learn  the  name 
of  it. 

We  were  met  at  the  station  by  automobiles  and  went  first  to 
the  hotel  where  we  had  luncheon,  a  great  many  courses  we 
could  hardly  do  justice  to,  having  had  delicious  sandwiches 
from  the  Cyprus  shortly  before!  But  most  of  us  ate — I  speak 
for  myself  when  I  say  "greedily" — of  the  alligator  pears  which 
were  the  very  best  I  have  ever  tasted.  Mr.  Laroque  joined  us  at 
luncheon,  having  known  Jack  when  the  latter  was  in  Guatemala 
two  years  ago.  He  was  rather  diffident  to  say  the  least,  for  after 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


having  been  presented  to  ten  people — always  a  rather  trying 
ordeal  to  a  shy  person — he  blurted  out:  "Mrs.  Jackling,  what 
did  you  do  with  all  those  beautiful  embroideries  you  bought 
the  last  time  you  were  here?"  whereupon  every  one  at  the  table 
burst  into  shrieks  of  hysterical  laughter,  and  the  poor  man 
nearly  died  of  embarrassment.  Jack  laughed  with  the  rest, 
although  there  was  no  further  conversation  on  that  subject,  but 
I  am  afraid  he  will  never  hear  the  end  of  it! 

After  luncheon  we  got  into  motors  again  and  went  all  over  the 
city.  I  may  say  we  didn't  leave  a  stone  unturned.  First  we 
visited  the  market  which  is  the  largest  one  I've  seen;  unlike 
the  Mexican  markets  which  are  just  roofed  over  or  else  held  in 
the  public  square,  this  one  occupies  a  whole  building.  In  fact, 
big  as  it  is,  it  even  extends  out  into  the  streets  back  of  the 
Cathedral.  Such  messes  as  they  were  cooking  and  such  drinks 
as  they  were  brewing!  The  food  was  almost  a  nauseating  sight. 
We  then  drove  down  an  avenue  of  those  glorious  blue  trees  to 
the  Temple  of  Minerva,  one  of  the  many  buildings  erected  by 
President  Manuel  Estrada  Cabrera,  and  dedicated  to  the  school 
children  of  Guatemala.  I  believe  it  is  just  used  for  public  festi- 
vals and  dancing,  and  once  a  year  all  the  school  children  gather 
there  and  march  down  the  steps,  mainly  I  imagine  for  the 
purpose  of  hearing  what  a  great  man  is  the  noble  Manuel 
Estrada  Cabrera!  It  is  surrounded  by  a  race  track  with  rickety 
old  grandstands  entirely  out  of  keeping  with  the  temple.  At  one 
side  is  a  relief  map  of  the  Republic  of  Guatemala.  It  is  planned 
with  a  miniature  Pacific  Ocean,  and  gives  you  a  perfectly  com- 
prehensive idea  of  the  situation  of  every  mountain  peak,  lake 
and  valley.  We  also  went  out  into  a  kind  of  public  park  or 
picnic  ground  as  they  called  it,  where  you  can  get  an  excellent 
view  of  the  deep  barranca  which  practically  surrounds  the  entire 
city.  It  looks  like  a  gigantic  moat,  and  it  seems  that  the  reason 


Monday 
March  2Otb 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Monday 
March  2Oth 


the  city  was  built  in  its  present  location,  after  having  been  twice 
demolished,  was  because  the  baranca  is  supposed  to  make  the 
site  as  nearly  earthquake  proof  as  possible. 

There  are  countless  churches,  big  and  little,  perched  up  on 
the  heights  and  tucked  away  in  side  streets.  Churches  abso- 
lutely everywhere,  and  underground  passage  ways  connecting 
every  one!  The  area  is  immense,  indeed  so  very  immense  that 
this  last  fact  seems  incredible,  but  I  am  assured  of  the  absolute 
truth  of  the  statement.  Mr.  Laroque  took  us  to  his  office,  into 
which  he  has  only  just  moved.  The  building  was  formerly  a 
convent  and  is  immediately  adjoining  a  church.  He  unlocked  a 
little  half  door  in  a  far  room  at  the  back  and  showed  us  the 
descent  down  a  flight  of  steep  stone  steps  about  two  and  a  half 
feet  wide,  into  one  of  these  passages.  He  has  not  yet  explored  it 
though  it  is  a  mystery  to  me  how  any  one  could  let  a  day  go  by 
without  doing  so! 

The  Cathedral  is  very  large  and  its  exterior  is  rather  imposing. 
There  are  some  beautiful  carvings  in  it,  though  nothing  very 
old  or  interesting  that  I  could  discover.  Mary  and  Walter  and  I 
had  the  curiosity  to  creep  through  a  door  leading  from  the  vest- 
ment room  out  onto  a  balcony,  where  we  saw  a  little  court 
yard.  There  was  a  grilled  window  half  covered  by  a  vine,  which 
I  hope  may  be  seen  in  the  picture  I  took  surreptitiously.  It  was 
a  story-booky  little  corner. 

Cabrera's  palaces,  which  occupy  several  square  blocks  and 
which  are  also  connected  by  a  network  of  underground  pas- 
sages, are  so  closely  guarded  that  no  one  is  allowed  to  motor  or 
drive  past  them.  There  is  a  guard  at  every  corner.  We  walked 
up  through  the  streets  and  saw  a  funereal-looking  procession  of 
men  in  frock  coats  and  silk  hats,  coming  out  of  the  doorway, 
evidently  from  some  ceremonious  audience  with  his  majesty! 
Almost  immediately  afterward  a  very  dressy  young  woman 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


came  out  of  the  same  doorway,  who  didn't  seem  to  show  the 
least  fear  in  treading  on  such  dangerous  ground!  She  appeared 
to  know  her  way  about  perfectly;  even  the  guards  didn't  look 
at  her  askance.  It  was  obvious  she  was  a  familiar  figure  on  that 
closely  guarded  block! 

We  went  through  one  of  the  coffee  refineries — if  that  is  what 
you  call  them — and  it  was  most  interesting  from  every  point  of 
view.  They  shell  and  sort  out  the  different-sized  beans,  all  done, 
of  course,  by  machinery.  In  a  large  light  cool  room  adjoining 
the  one  where  the  machinery  is  installed,  about  thirty  girls 
were  employed  in  going  over  the  sacks,  to  remove  any  bean 
of  inferior  quality  that  might  have  found  its  way  into  the 
wrong  lot.  I  never  saw  factory  girls  who  looked  happier  in  their 
work  or  more  contented,  and  they  seemed  to  be  working  very 
industriously. 

We  came  back  to  the  hotel  later  where  Jack  had  arranged  to 
have  a  Marimba  band  play  for  us.  We  asked  them  to  play  the 
Guatemala  National  Air  but  much  to  our  surprise  they  said  it 
was  forbidden  by  the  Government.  It  seems  that  the  military 
bands  only  are  allowed  this  privilege.  I  gathered  that  the  reason 
was  that  they  did  not  want  the  air  belittled  and  made  a  cuckoo- 
song  of,  and  that  by  restricting  the  playing  of  it  a  greater 
respect  was  inspired  in  the  people  when  they  did  hear  it.  There 
was  only  a  very  little  dancing.  Rubber-soled  shoes  on  carpet 
and  a  very  warm  day  didn't  make  for  much  enthusiasm  in  that 
direction.  But  the  music  was  perfectly  splendid,  and  we  all 
adored  it.  We  recognized  some  of  the  musicians  that  had  been 
at  the  Exposition  in  San  Francisco,  curiously  enough. 

Just  before  going  to  the  train  we  motored  to  a  Church  on  a 
hill-top  from  which  we  had  the  most  marvelous  view  of  the 
entire  city,  just  at  sunset.  The  Church  itself  seemed  to  be  very 
old.  There  is  a  round  tower— leaning  a  little — just  in  front  of  it, 


Monday 
March  2Otb 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Monday 
March  2Oth 


and  two  little  kinds  of  sheltered  roofed  walls  at  either  side  that 
give  one  the  impression  of  its  having  been  used  as  a  fortress. 

At  seven  we  got  back  to  the  Samala  again,  and  were  once 
more  on  our  way.  It  was  necessary  to  get  special  permission 
from  the  Government  to  run  a  train  at  night.  Apparently  that 
is  something  that  is  never  done!  There  was  a  wonderful  moon 
and  it  was  delightfully  cool  winding  down  the  mountain.  For 
miles  the  track  is  just  a  succession  of  loops,  and  as  we  threaded 
our  way  down  very  slowly  and  cautiously  we  could  see  paths  of 
fire  scattered  down  the  hillsides  and  over  the  plain  where  they 
were  burning  the  sugar-cane.  It  was  an  eery-like  picture  with 
the  moon  peeping  out  at  intervals  from  behind  the  hills  as  we 
played  hide-and-go-seek  with  her!  At  Escuintla  we  were  met  by 
another  Marimba  band!  It  was  half  past  ten  at  night,  but  there 
they  all  were,  as  ordered,  perfectly  serious,  though  there  was 
something  decidedly  humorous  about  standing  at  that  hour  of 
the  night  at  a  railway  station  in  that  strange  far-away  country, 
listening  to  this  weird  music!  We  loved  every  note  of  it  how- 
ever, and  we  would  have  all  liked  to  bundle  up  the  whole 
troupe,  instruments  and  all,  and  take  them  on  board  the 
Cyprus!  Such  time,  such  rhythm  you  never  heard. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  pier  again  it  was  as  dark  as  a  dark 
night  can  be,  and  we  vaguely  wondered  how  we  were  ever 
to  get  from  the  rickety  stair-way  back  to  the  launch,  having 
only  just  "made  it,"  so  to  speak,  in  the  garish  light  of  day  with 
a  comparatively  smooth  sea,  whereas  now  the  waves  were  high 
and  furious!  It  was  after  twelve  o'clock,  and  we  were  all  rather 
tired,  having  been  up  at  five  in  the  morning,  spent  five  hours 
on  the  train  going  to  Guatemala  City,  then  a  busy  sight-seeing 
day  and  six  hours  on  the  train  returning  to  San  Jose.  Not  that 
I  wish  to  give  the  impression  that  the  trip  wasn't  worth  ten 
times  as  much  effort  and  exertion,  for  every  moment  of  it  was 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


a  delight,  but  just  by  way  of  intimating  that  we  had  been  very 
wide  awake  for  nineteen  hours  and  weren't  necessarily  looking 
for  hair-raising  adventures!  Not  just  at  that  particular  moment 
at  any  rate!  But  we  had  one!  After  a  number  of  fruitless  efforts 
it  was  found  impossible  to  bring  the  Cyprus  launch  up  to  the 
rickety  steps.  We  couldn't  possibly  remain  in  San  Jose  all  night; 
it  isn't  that  kind  of  a  place!  There  was  only  one  thing  to  do  and 
we  did  it,  and  we're  all  here  to  tell  the  tale! 

They  brought  a  huge  barge,  or  lighter  rather,  up  beside  the 
pier,  and  the  first  move  consisted  in  lowering  a  kind  of  freight 
flat  car  into  it  so  that  we  could  climb  from  that  into  the  launch — 
in  case  we  got  there!  Next  a  cage  was  gripped  by  the  derrick, 
and  into  it  stepped  the  rather  frightened  party — three  at  a 
time.  The  drop  was  one  of  about  60  feet,  and  it  looked  scary  I 
must  admit.  Just  blackness  and  a  growling  angry  sea  beneath. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aldrich  made  the  first  descent,  and  then  Mr. 
Aldrich  proceeded  to  "boost"  every  one  over  the  side  of  the 
barge  into  the  launch,  which  was  no  easy  matter!  Virginia, 
Jack  and  I  came  next,  and  when  we  were  in  mid-air  a  great 
swell  came  along,  which  I  am  convinced  was  really  a  moderate- 
sized  tidal  wave,  and  swept  the  barge  from  underneath  us.  In 
all  the  confusion  and  blackness  of  the  night  I  thought  we'd 
probably  go  right  on  being  lowered  into  the  raging  main,  espe- 
cially as  the  man  who  was  running  this  little  roulette  game  was 
tucked  away  in  a  far  corner  where  he  couldn't  possibly  see  what 
he  was  doing  and  had  to  rely  on  a  man  who  stood  by  and 
whistled  now  and  then  when  the  cage  or  barge,  as  the  case 
might  be,  was  found  to  be  in  an  unforeseen  position!  The  tidal 
wave  returned  to  its  happy  home  however  and  fortunately 
brought  the  barge  with  it,  and  so  every  one  got  safely  down. 
Poor  Mr.  Aldrich  really  had  the  worst  of  it  as,  willy-nilly,  every 
woman  was  transferred  to  the  launch  by  force. 


Monday 
March  2Oth 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Monday 
March  2Otb 


Tuesday 
March  21" 


Like  the  child  who  believes  that  the  merry-go-round  turns  for 
his  pleasure  alone,  and  turns  for  nothing,  do  not  plan  a  trip  to 
Guatemala  because  it  sounds  like  a  delightful  place  to  visit,  with- 
out glancing  at  the  following  list,  which  I  procured  with  some 
difficulty,  and  which  is  an  exact  account  of  our  day's  expenses 
in  Guatemala  City.  It  is  a  kind  of  curiosity  worth  recording! 

One  day's  expenses  on  trip  from  San  Jose  to  Guatemala  City: 

Special  Train 117,630.00 

Lunch  at  Guatemala  City 600.00 

Lunch  tip 80.00 

Marimba  Band  at  Guatemala  and  Escuintla 800.00 

Tea  Guatemala  City 672.00 

Personal  Effects  Stolen 820.00 

Automobiles 2,419.00 

Post  Cards 108.00 

Postage 102.00 

Port  Charges  for  the  Yacht 2,000.00 

Cables i,332-oo 

Tips i  ,000.00 

Alligator  Pears 80.00 


Total  in  Guatemala  Currency $27,643.00 

NOTE: 

Claret  quoted  on  menu  at $150.00  per  bottle 

Rhine  wine 75-°°  Per  bottle 

Cigarettes 20.00  per  box 

THIS  morning  early  we  arrived  in  Acajutla,  Salvador.  The 
Doctor  of  the  Port  came  on  board  and  insisted  on  seeing 
each  of  us,  so  he  went  from  door  to  door  all  over  the  ship.  Jack 
had  telegraphed  ten  days  before  to  have  a  train  meet  us  to  take 
us  to  San  Salvador,  but  they  hadn't  yet  received  the  message 
and  all  the  available  trains  were  busy  hauling  coffee.  If  we 
would  wait  a  week  or  ten  days,  however,  they  would  be  glad  to 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


make  some  arrangements!  It  was  terrifically  hot,  and  as  we 
couldn't  see  anything  but  Acajutla,  the  "ladies"  decided  to 
remain  on  the  Cyprus.  Jack,  Walter  and  "Cappie"  however 
saw  an  opportunity  for  adventure,  and  off  they  went.  A  60- 
foot  ladder  to  the  pier  held  no  terrors  for  them,  and  from 
"  Cappie  V  beatific  all-day  smile,  we  gathered  any  hardship 
would  have  been  worth  the  price  of  admission !  They  explored 
an  old  ruin  and  went  through  a  native  village,  and  saw  some 
girls  in  bathing  about  which  we  heard  a  very  great  deal.  That 
is  all  they  told  us  of  their  adventures,  but  we  surmised  a  good 
deal  more.  Walter  tried  to  buy  a  parrot,  and  after  some  diffi- 
culties with  the  Spanish  language  succeeded  in  bargaining  with 
a  woman  who  held  one  on  her  shoulder.  After  the  transaction 
was  safely  and  satisfactorily  concluded  it  suddenly  occurred  to 
him  that  he  must  have  a  cage.  He  explained  to  the  woman  that 
he  wanted  "ropas."  She  laughed  good-naturedly  and  said  she 
didn't  have  any;  that  the  parrots  in  Acajutla  never  had  any 
"ropas."  Walter  grew  quite  indignant  and  finally  told  her  that 
she  could  take  back  her  bird  and  return  his  money,  which  she 
did,  strange  as  it  may  seem.  Later,  when  he  came  back  to  the 
boat,  in  a  spirit  of  untold  humility,  Walter  secretly  got  out  his 
Spanish  dictionary  and  looked  up  "ropa"  to  find  much  to  his 
amazement  and  amusement  that  it  not  only  did  not  mean  cage 
but  that  it  did  mean  "clothes"!!! 

Our  lives  were  saved  after  much  manoeuvering,  by  succeeding 
in  getting  1000  pounds  of  ice,  over  which  there  had  been  a  great 
deal  of  wagering,  and  as  soon  as  this  was  safely  on  board  we 
sailed;  we  kept  close  to  the  coast  all  afternoon,  and  as  it  grew 
dark,  we  passed  the  two  volcanoes,  Salvador  and  Izalco,  both 
in  eruption:  a  mass  of  smoke  and  flame.  It  was  very  spectacular. 
La  Libertad  was  a  picturesque-looking  little  town,  but  we  didn  't 
stop  there.  Another  wonderful  evening,  but  the  moon  is  wan- 


Tuesday 
March  21** 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


32 


Tuesday 
March  21" 


Wednesday 
March  22»d 


ing;  still  the  stars  are  just  doubly  bright.  We  all  sat  on  deck 
and  listened  to  the  Victor  which  had  been  brought  up,  and  it 
was  perfectly  heavenly! 

THIS  morning  we  came  into  the  little  port  of  La  Union. 
It  is  just  the  border  line  between  Salvador  and  Honduras. 
The  Health  officials  were  very  particular  here  also,  and  insisted 
upon  having  the  names  of  every  passenger  and  of  every  member 
of  the  crew.  However,  it  is  one  of  the  regulations  one  willingly 
complies  with.  There  is  so  much  sickness  in  Central  America 
one  is  relieved  to  see  that  at  least  some  effort  is  made  toward 
protecting  the  people.  Mr.  Westin,  Mr.  Butter's  mining  rep- 
resentative in  La  Union,  assured  us  that  the  town  was  the 
healthiest  in  all  the  Central  American  countries;  that  there  was 
absolutely  no  illness.  This  is  due  in  a  large  measure  to  the  purity 
of  their  water  supply.  It  is  brought  down  into  the  town  direct 
from  a  tunnel  in  one  side  of  the  volcanic  mountains  some 
distance  away. 

We  were  obliged  to  climb  a  2o-foot  ladder  to  the  pier  this  morn- 
ing, and  all  was  well  until  Walter,  standing  in  the  launch  below 
awaiting  his  turn,  conceived  the  iniquitous  idea  of  taking  a 
snap-shot  of  Mrs.  Aldrich  just  as  she  was  reaching  the  top — 
and  safety!  If  she  knew  as  much  as  some  of  the  rest  of  us  about 
his  photographic  chef  d'oeuvres,  she  wouldn't  let  it  worry  her 
much! 

We  got  into  a  primitive  little  train  and  went  over  to  the  town 
of  La  Union,  where  we  began  by  doing  a  little  shopping  for  the 
benefit  of  Dr.  Allen  who  can't  bear  to  see  a  shop  without  going 
into  it.  We  bought  some  hats  and  some  post  cards,  and  Virginia 
had  a  disastrous  adventure  with  my  fountain  pen,  "which  never 
leaks"!  Then  we  made  our  usual  pilgrimage.  The  Church  was 
a  poverty-stricken  place.  The  walls  were  of  brick  but  the  roof 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


of  wood,  as  the  original  structure  had  been  half  demolished  in 
an  earthquake.  Just  outside  was  a  great  beam,  on  which  hung 
three  enormous  bells.  One  of  these  had  a  crack  in  it  at  least  half 
an  inch  wide.  I  fancy  they  had  been  rescued  from  the  belfry 
after  the  tower  fell.  A  few  crooked  posts  held  a  roof  over  them. 

The  town  of  La  Union  differs  but  little  from  most  of  those  we 
have  seen;  narrow,  ill-paved  streets,  a  public  square,  flowerless 
and  shrubless,  just  a  few  moth-eaten  trees,  pan  ting  so  to  speak  for 
water;  everything  completely  dried  up  at  this  season  of  the  year, 
and  very  much  uncared  for.  About  the  market-place  were  the 
same  swarthy-faced  men,  women  and  children  sitting  aimlessly 
about  in  lethargic  idleness.  The  hotel  was  a  clean  and  fairly 
cool-looking  place  where  we  had  some  beer  and  a  little  airing  of 
laborious  Spanish  conversation.  The  court  was  very  tropical 
looking,  with  its  banana  trees  and  flowering  shrubs  growing  in 
profusion.  I  was  amazed  to  count  seven  sewing  machines  in  that 
little  town.  Both  men  and  women  were  sewing  busily  on  them. 
I  think  what  struck  me  so  particularly  was  not  so  much  the 
existence  of  the  machines,  as  the  fact  of  any  one  being  occupied 
in  this  lazy  country! 

We  came  back  to  the  Cyprus  for  luncheon,  and  afterward  Mr. 
Westin  suggested  that  we  should  go  up  some  of  the  rivers  after 
snipe.  He  took  his  little  launch  and  a  few  of  the  men  went  with 
him,  the  rest  of  us  following  in  the  Cyprus  launch.  The  bay  is 
fairly  large,  but  we  soon  got  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  rivers, 
where  the  birds  were  very  plentiful.  These  so-called  rivers  are 
really  navigable  sloughs,  but  they  are  familiarly  spoken  of  as 
the  rivers.  We  went  up  the  Rio  Guascoran,  which  is  the  boundary 
between  Salvador  and  Honduras,  and  after  running  around 
innumerable  little  islands  came  back  just  at  sunset  by  the  Rio 
Serama.  The  trip  is  one  that  should  never  be  missed,  for  it  is 
very  beautiful  and  full  of  interesting  animal  life.  We  thought 


Wednesday 
March  22»d 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


34 


Wednesday 
March  22*d 


Thursday 
March  2jrd 


we  saw  an  alligator  swimming  along  just  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Rio  Guascoran.  Further  up,  "Cappie"  and  Virginia — who  im- 
pressed me  so  with  her  accuracy  in  shooting  that  I  am  speech- 
less to  describe  it — got  a  dozen  snipe  and  plover,  and  two 
iguanas,  the  smaller  of  which,  one  of  the  muchacbos  rescued 
from  a  tree,  as  we  wanted  to  take  home  some  spoil!  They 
also  shot  an  enormous  hawk  and  two  beautiful  white  ibises.  I 
have  a  haunting  suspicion  that  those  ibises  should  not  have  been 
shot.  As  far  as  Virginia  is  concerned  I  believe  she  could  hit  the 
ghost  of  a  rose  petal  ten  miles  away.  I  never  saw  any  one  like 
her.  It  is  extraordinary. 

The  undergrowth  on  the  banks  was  so  close  and  thick  that  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  take  one  solitary  step  in  any 
direction.  The  branches  of  the  trees  grow  close  to  the  roots,  and 
then  dart  out  in  semi-circular  fashion  and  bury  themselves  in 
the  ground.  Above  these  the  trunk  is  quite  smooth  with  no 
branches  at  all  until  more  than  half  way  to  the  top,  where  there 
is  a  profusion  of  feathery  green  foliage  which  is  very  beautiful. 
Our  entire  afternoon  was  as  successful  as  any  one  could  wish 
for:  a  perfect  day,  plenty  of  game  and  wonderful  woods. 

STILL  smooth  seas  and  divine  weather.  To-day  we  saw  quan- 
tities of  turtles  which  the  men  shot  at,  midst  shouts  of 
excitement.  They  were  enormous  ungainly  things  and  yet  for 
some  reason  not  especially  easy  marks.  I  know  less  than  noth- 
ing about  shooting;  was  it  the  uneven  ripple  of  the  water  that 
made  sighting  them  difficult?  That  is  probably  the  most  absurd 
of  all  reasons ! 

Last  night  in  the  bay  of  La  Union  the  phosphorescence  was 
wonderful.  We  were  anchored  and  so  couldn't  get  the  full  bene- 
fit of  it,  but  Walter  tied  a  rope  to  one  of  the  painted  "Joseph" 
buckets,  and  so  created  a  superb  display  of  "water  fire-works" 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


by  dangling  it  over  the  deck-rail!  We  also  espied  an  enormous 
whale  quite  close  to  the  yacht,  in  fact  a  number  of  whales.  The 
most  important  event  of  the  day  by  all  odds  was  when,  in  a 
moment  of  mental  aberration,  "Cappie"  and  Jack  AGREED  that 
Edison  was  a  "scientific  parasite,"  a  much  over-rated  and  over- 
advertised  person!  Undoubtedly  if  one  or  the  other  of  them  had 
not  temporarily  lost  his  presence  of  mind,  they  would  still  be 
arguing  about  it. 

I  had  my  first  glimpse  of  the  Southern  Cross  to-night,  which 
gave  me  what  would  seem  to  be  an  exaggerated  pleasure  if  I 
attempted  to  describe  it!  But  nothing  can  take  that  pleasure 
away,  and  it  is  a  real  one.  Just  after  dinner  we  passed  the  El 
Paraiso,  silently,  as  ships  actually  do  pass  in  the  night. 

The  doctor  was  awakened  to-day  at  intervals  of  two  or  three 
hours  to  give  first  aid  to  the  vaccinated.  It  seemed  unkind  to 
interrupt  such  a  deep  sleep,  right  in  the  middle  of  the  day  too, 
but  a  person  gets  so  cramped  sleeping  all  the  time  without  even 
moving,  that  perhaps  it  wasn't  so  cruel  after  all! 

THIS  morning  early  we  arrived  at  Puntarenas  in  Costa 
Rica,  by  far  the  prettiest  little  port  we've  seen  as  yet.  It 
had  a  prosperous,  enterprising  appearance  and  looked  far  more 
like  a  hospitable  dwelling  spot  than  most  of  the  coast  towns. 
There  is  a  long  esplanade  with  stone  benches  at  regular  inter- 
vals for  almost  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  and  huge  gnarled 
shade  trees  on  either  side.  Much  to  our  surprise,  the  train  was 
waiting  for  us,  and  left  without  delay;  something  we  have  grown 
entirely  unaccustomed  to!  It  is  a  four  hour  run  to  San  Jose,  and 
a  more  beautiful  stretch  of  country  it  is  impossible  to  conceive 
of.  The  railroad  was  begun  twenty  years  ago  and  has  only  been 
completed  a  little  over  two  years.  Up  to  seven  or  eight  years 
ago  the  journey  was  made  in  ox  carts,  and  took  fifteen  days 


Thursday 
March  2jrd 


Friday 
March 


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on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


at  the  least.  Here,  just  as  on  the  way  to  Guatemala  City,  the 
fences  are  made  of  Gocote  trees,  a  kind  of  plum  tree  that  is  used 
because  of  its  hardiness;  it  will  grow  anywhere  apparently. 
Here  also  barbed  wire  is  used,  and  sometimes  the  trees  are 
interspersed  with  high  cactus  plants.  The  amarillo,  ceiba  and 
roble  trees  are  very  plentiful,  and  give  a  wonderful  color 
scheme  in  the  midst  of  a  hundred  or  more  different  shades  of 
luxuriant  green.  The  train  skirts  the  coast  for  some  miles  and 
then  winds  along  the  mountains  most  of  the  way  beside  the 
river,  crossing  over  a  steel  bridge  three  hundred  feet  high  and 
with  a  span  of  over  seven  hundred  feet.  As  we  neared  San  Jose, 
our  way  led  through  acres  and  acres  of  coffee  plantations. 
Banana  and  mango  trees  are  planted  all  through  these  areas 
to  shade  the  coffee  plants,  and  they  vary  the  monotony  of  the 
little  straight  rows  of  shrubs  in  a  most  delightful  way. 

The  plants  are  cut  down  to  the  roots  every  fourteen  or  fifteen 
years,  and  then  allowed  to  grow  again.  Some  rice  is  grown  and 
a  small  quantity  of  tobacco.  In  the  distance  our  attention  was 
called  to  two  active  volcanoes,  but  their  craters  were  buried  in 
the  clouds,  and  we  were  unable  to  see  the  smoke  that  is  con- 
stantly pouring  out. 

San  Jose  is  3700  feet  above  the  sea  level,  beautifully  situated, 
surrounded  as  it  is  by  high  mountains.  The  residence  section 
where  the  President's  house  and  those  of  the  various  consuls 
are,  is  quite  hilly;  they  have  a  charming  view  of  the  whole 
country-side. 

We  went  at  once — some  of  us  in  Fords  of  course!— to  the  little 
Hotel  San  Jose,  where  we  had  a  delicious  luncheon,  and  where 
we  found  the  entire  personnel  French  or  French-speaking  at 
least,  from  Madame  la  Proprietaire,  down  to  the  nervous  excit- 
able Jamaican  negro  who  waited  on  us.  No  one  could  wish  for  a 
more  comfortable,  clean,  and  thoroughly  hospitable  little  hotel. 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 

,~,—r 

37 

It  is  built  of  course  with  the  usual  patio,  and  the  dining  room 

Friday 

opens  on  to  this  with  long  French  windows,  a  few  feet  apart. 

March  24^ 

The  little  tables  were  all  covered  with  spotless  linen,  and  in  the 

centre  of  each  was  a  vase  of  flowers,  most  of  them  containing 

lovely  mauve  orchids. 

After  luncheon  I  was  standing  in  the  doorway  waiting  for  the 

others  when  a  woman  dressed  all  in  black,  with  a  black  shawl 

wrapped  around  her  head,  passed  me.  I  involuntarily  exclaimed, 

and  I  am  ashamed  to  say  even  pointed,  at  a  cluster  of  exquisite 

orchids  she  held  in  her  hand.  She  turned  and  gave  half  of  them 

to  Mrs.  Tooker  and  half  of  them  to  me  in  the  most  gracious  way 

imaginable.  Dr.  Allen  offered  her  some  money,  but  she  refused 

it  in  the  same  courteous  way.  Mr.  Cox,  the  British  Consul,  told 

us  that  every  variety  of  orchid  was  to  be  found  in  the  surround- 

ing woods,  in  the  greatest  profusion.  The  Church  was  not  par- 

ticularly interesting  only  it  looked  pleasantly  prosperous  and 

well  cared  for,  with  a  nice  green  garden  on  either  side,  and  the 

large  public  square  in  front  of  it,  where  the  trees  and  plants 

were  watered,  unlike  most  of  those  we've  seen  heretofore.  Our 

next  point  of  interest  was  the  National  Theatre.  The  exterior 

is  dignified  and  well  proportioned,  but  the  interior  is  rather  too 

gaudy  to  be  impressive.  I  would  even  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  it 

just  misses  being  actually  tawdry.  There  is  almost  an  unbeliev- 

able amount  of  carved  and  inlaid  stone,  and  a  great  deal  of 

gilded  carved  wood  and  frescoing  on  every  available  wall  and 

ceiling  space.  Too  much.  It  is  decidedly  oppressive;  perhaps 

because  the  theatre  is  comparatively  small.  Twice  a  year  balls 

are  given  here,  and  occasionally  theatrical  companies  come  and 

take  possession,  but  I  imagine  from  what  our  guide  said,  that 

most  of  the  time  it  is  dressed  as  we  saw  it,  in  its  neatly  fitted 

little  white  linen  covers,  and  shown  with  pride  to  the  tourists. 

There  are  four  or  five  other  theatres  but  these  are  all  given  over 

I 

on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Friday 
March  24th 


to  Moving  Pictures,  which  here  as  everywhere  in  Central 
America  are  very  popular. 

Next  we  visited  the  Museum,  which  has  a  splendid  collection 
of  birds  and  wild  animals  and  especially  butterflies  for  which 
Costa  Rica  is  famous.  There  are  cases  and  cases  of  Indian  arrow- 
heads and  immense  quantities  of  stone  images  and  decorated 
pottery  that  have  been  unearthed  in  the  surrounding  country. 
There  are  also  some  thoroughly  incongruous  things,  such  as  an 
entire  set  of  Japanese  armor,  a  mastodon 's  tooth,  etc.,  etc.  Out 
in  what  might  be  very  correctly  called  "the  back-yard,"  is  a 
meagre  collection  of  live  wild  animals  including  a  remarkably 
fine  jaguar,  several  monkeys  and  owls  and  a  few  domestic  rab- 
bits! One  feels  it  to  be  an  insult  to  his  dignity  to  cage  that 
wonderful  jaguar  up  in  such  a  scrubby  sort  of  place.  A  few 
chipmunks  and  tame  bunnies  are  about  all  his  penetrating  eyes 
have  range  of. 

We  tried  to  buy  some  tortoise  shell  but  could  not  find  any. 
In  every  shop  they  said  it  was  to  be  had  only  in  Puntarenas. 
We  drove  up  to  the  Penitentiary,  and  then  to  another  coffee 
refinery  as  some  of  the  party  had  not  been  through  the  one  at 
Guatemala  City.  The  girls  were  all  out  in  the  court  yard.  It  was 
about  2:30,  but  it  appeared  to  be  their  lunch  hour  nevertheless. 
"Cappie,"  who  had  lingered  behind  the  others  with  an  officious 
little  one-eyed  guide  he  had  acquired,  was  met  by  the  Manager 
who  flew  into  a  rage  because  he  thought  we  had  all  gone  into 
the  Factory  without  permission.  He  slammed  a  few  doors  and 
finally  disappeared  muttering  maledictions  on  our  heads.  Eventu- 
ally the  others  came  out  and  we  all  again  climbed  into  motors 
and  thought  to  move  gaily  on  our  way,  but  the  bad-tempered 
old  Manager  had  deliberately  locked  the  gates  and  retired  to 
his  lodge!  After  a  few  minutes  the  railway  official  who  had  been 
sent  down  to  Puntarenas  to  meet  us  and  to  do  what  he  could 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


for  us,  went  up  and  pacified  the  old  man  in  some  way  or  other 
and  he  reluctantly  allowed  the  gates  to  be  opened.  We  were  all 
very  much  amused! 

Many  of  the  residences  were  quite  pretty,  not  architectural 
dreams  of  perfection,  but  gay  colored  and  cheerful  little  dwell- 
ings with  orchid  plants  growing  in  the  tops  of  the  walls  around  the 
gardens  and  in  hanging  baskets  on  the  verandas.  Later  we  went 
back  to  the  hotel  where  we  succeeded  in  getting  a  French  news- 
paper, published  in  New  York  on  the  I9th,  and  a  later  Spanish 
one  out  of  which  we  were  unable  to  glean  very  much  informa- 
tion! It  was  the  first  war  news  or,  for  that  matter,  news  of  any 
kind  that  we  had  received  since  leaving  San  Pedro  on  the  I2th. 

We  started  back  at  four  o'clock  and  were  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Cox,  the  British  Consul,  whom  we  deluged  with  questions — 
questions  about  every  conceivable  thing  Costa  Rican.  Just 
beyond  San  Jose  he  directed  the  Engineer  of  our  train  to  stop 
so  that  we  might  see  a  tree  that  grew  on  the  side  of  the  ravine — 
a  marvelous  mass  of  bright  blue  flowers,  called  the  Patrea 
Spectaculum.  He  also  told  us  that  the  amarillo  tree  was  known 
as  the  "cuero  venado, "  because  its  bark  was  said  to  resemble 
venison  hide. 

At  one  of  the  stations  we  bought  maranons,  a  kind  of  yellowish 
red  juicy  fruit  that  tastes  exactly  like  a  sweet  pepper.  The  caju 
nut,  which  seems  to  be  the  seed  of  the  fruit,  is  grayish  green  in 
color  and  grows  out  of  the  top  of  it  like  a  small  curved  handle! 
We  got  back  to  the  Cyprus  about  eight  o'clock  and  immedi- 
ately continued  on  our  journey.  While  we  were  on  shore  the 
crew  had  an  exciting  adventure  with  a  shark.  They  caught  him 
with  a  line,  and  as  they  dragged  him  in  they  shot  twice  at  him 
and  thereby  severed  the  chain,  dropping  him  into  the  sea  and 
safety!  We  have  to  believe  them,  though  it  is  rather  big  for  a 
fish-story! 


Friday 
March  24th 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


40 


Saturday 
March  2th 


THIS  has  been  the  warmest  day  we  have  had  which  is 
saying  a  very  great  deal !  A  shower  awakened  every  one  at 
6:30  and  most  of  the  day  the  sky  has  been  overcast  and  heavy 
with  rain  clouds.  We  passed  Ladrones  Island  about  10:30  and 
then  Montuosa,  which  looked  like  a  thoroughly  delightful  little 
wooded  spot,  with  its  great  grove  of  cocoanut  palms  on  the 
beach,  and  a  lot  of  small  crafts,  probably  pearl  fishers,  just  off  it. 
Soon  after,  we  sighted  Coiba  Island  which  for  some  unknown  rea- 
son has  had  a  fanciful  kind  of  fascination  for  me,  ever  since  I  first 
heard  of  it,  a  day  or  two  ago.  The  next  excitement  was  caused 
by  passing  the  Denver  on  her  way  up  the  coast.  You  may  think 
I  am  exaggerating  when  I  speak  of  "excitements"  such  as  the 
last,  but  I  assure  you  such  is  not  the  case;  when  you  are  on  ship- 
board the  passing  of  a  ship  is  exciting,  tremendously  so. 

And  here  I  may  remark,  that  from  Puntarenas  we  made  a 
record  run  of  330  statute  miles  in  18  hours! 

Just  at  sunset  we  reached  Coiba  Island,  which  we've  been 
looking  forward  to  as  the  goal  of  all  things,  probably  because 
there  were  grave  doubts  as  to  whether  we  should  be  able  to 
land  there  or  not.  The  Cyprus  had  to  anchor  about  five  miles 
out,  but  we  got  into  the  launch  so  that  we  could  run  up  close 
to  the  shore  and  at  least  have  a  glimpse  of  the  island.  Jack 
thought  it  was  too  late  to  land,  but  as  we  got  nearer  and  saw 
the  wonderful  grove  of  cocoanut  palms  it  looked  absolutely 
irresistible,  so  we  jumped  into  the  rowboat  that  had  been  towed 
along  and  finally  ended  by  wading  up  the  beach!  A  rather  surly 
looking  old  man  came  down  and  met  us.  Walter  went  up  to  him 
and  in  his  most  exemplary  Castillian  Spanish  wished  him  the 
compliments  of  the  season,  a  long  and  prosperous  life,  and  told 
him  that  all  our  possessions  were  at  his  disposal.  The  old  man 
shook  his  head  dejectedly  and  replied  in  Spanish,  "I  don't 
speak  English!" 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


There  were  twenty  or  thirty  native  women  and  children  and 
three  tiny  thatched  huts  into  which  they  were  huddled.  They 
stood  looking  at  us  with  a  mixture  of  curiosity  and  surprise.  A 
few  pigs  and  dogs  nosed  around  the  beach  looking  about  as  half 
starved  as  the  other  poor  wretched  inhabitants.  Eventually  we 
discovered  that  the  old  man  spoke  French  and  were  able  to  get 
a  little  very  reluctantly  given  information.  His  father  had 
planted  the  cocoanut  trees  about  thirty  years  ago,  and  now  he 
had  fallen  heir  to  them  and  came  from  Panama  every  year  to 
gather  the  crop,  bringing  the  handful  of  natives  with  him. 
When  he  returns  he  leaves  two  or  three  men  on  the  island  to  see 
that  no  one  comes  and  usurps  his  rights.  He  seemed  to  be  a 
brutal  sort  of  person,  stolid,  and  with  an  unmistakably  mean 
eye.  Jack  had  stopped  there  two  years  ago  and  had  given  him 
a  lot  of  coffee  and  sugar,  and  very  kindly  asked  him  if  he  were 
in  need  of  anything  now.  He  had  previously  told  us  that  he 
expected  a  boat  from  Panama  to  stop  for  him  in  a  few  days'  time 
and  that  he  had  enough  provisions,  but  no  tobacco.  Walter  gave 
him  all  the  cigarettes  he  had  in  his  pocket  and  Jack  told  him 
that  if  he  would  let  us  tow  his  boat  out  to  the  yacht  and  send 
some  one  in  it  to  row  back,  he  would  give  him  a  supply.  In  a 
surly  commanding  tone  he  ordered  a  boy  who  was  standing  by 
to  get  the  boat.  He  was  a  frail-looking  youth  who  had  been  ill 
with  fever  for  days  and  we  all  protested  that  the  child  couldn't 
go  so  far,  but  the  old  man  growled  out  that  the  boy's  brother 
would  go  with  him  and  help  him  out.  The  brother  was  about 
six  years  old,  and  the  two  children  got  obediently  into  a  tiny 
dug-out  with  one  paddle  and  started  toward  the  launch.  Mean- 
while it  had  grown  very  dark  as  it  does  in  this  country  where 
there  is  no  twilight  at  all,  and  as  the  Cyprus  was  anchored  at 
least  five  miles  away,  we  couldn't  bear  to  see  those  two  pathetic 
little  children  starting  off  on  a  pitch  black  night,  just  to  get 


Saturday 
March  25th 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Saturday 
March  2^tb 


Sunday 
March  26tb 


tobacco  for  the  old  slave  driver,  so  we  sent  them  back  and  called 
in  to  him  that  we  refused  to  take  them.  The  older  one  was  given 
five  dollars  and  some  silver,  and  he  asked  plaintively  if  it  were 
really  for  him?  Heaven  alone  knows  where  he  was  able  to  hide 
it  as  his  cotton  shirt  and  trousers  had  no  pockets  and  that  old 
tyrant  would  certainly  get  it  away  from  him  if  he  knew  the 
boy  had  it.  One  of  the  crew  who  had  some  tobacco  handed  it  to 
him  for  his  master,  so  perhaps  the  latter  may  have  been  paci- 
fied, and  didn't  beat  the  boy,  but  I  rather  suspect  that  the  old 
man  thought  the  boy  refused  to  go,  and  that  he  was  punished 
accordingly.  Let  us  hope  not.  If  he  had  wanted  food  or  medicine 
it  would  have  been  so  different! 

I'm  sorry  to  say  we  saw  no  monkeys,  parrots  or  macaws 
though  they  abound  on  the  island,  but  it  was  too  late  and  too 
dark  to  go  back  into  the  woods;  such  wonderful  tropical  woods 
too!  Thick  with  ferns  and  trees  and  flowering  shrubs ! The  palms 
were  growing  all  along  the  white  sandy  beach  right  down  to  the 
water's  edge.  It  was  late  when  we  got  back  to  the  Cyprus,  and 
poor  Captain  Lewis  thought  we  had  run  on  the  reef  or  been 
eaten  alive  by  natives  or  man-eating  sharks!  He  had  been  hunt- 
ing everywhere  for  us  with  his  searchlight  and  was  just  about 
to  send  small  boats  after  us  when  we  appeared,  delighted  with 
ourselves  and  our  adventures,  thrilled  and  satisfied  with  having 
set  foot  on  Coiba  Island.  I  adored  it.  "I  could  live  for  it  and 
die  for  it  and  dash  my  brains  against  the  wall  for  it!"  Never 
mind,  there  are  those  who  understand  that  kind  of  language! 

EVERY  one  spent  the  morning  packing  and  dressing  to 
land  in  Panama.  We  anchored  at  n  130  and  could  hardly 
wait  for  the  usual  port  formalities  to  be  over  and  done  with,  as 
none  of  us  except  Jack  and  Mr.  Tooker  had  ever  been  here 
before.  It  seemed  forever  before  the  little  launch  appeared  but 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


eventually  the  Health  Officer  came  on  board.  Meantime  it  was 
decided  to  have  luncheon  on  the  Cyprus  as  it  would  be  fairly 
late  before  we  got  up  to  the  Hotel.  Dr.  Allen  happened  to  be 
awake  just  then,  so  he  went  to  greet  the  Health  Officer  and 
returned  very  shortly  afterward  to  tell  us  that  we  were  quaran- 
tined for  four  livelong  days.  We  had  heard  vaguely  at  Punt- 
arenas  that  there  was  some  such  possibility,  but  no  one  gave  it 
a  second  thought  for  some  reason  or  other,  and  even  when  it  was 
confirmed  and  the  doctor  crossed  his  heart  to  die  that  it  was 
true,  we  all  still  hoped  for  the  best  and  secretly  believed  there 
would  appear  a  loop-hole  somewhere.  The  very  objectionable 
pompous,  officious,  smug  little  Health  Officer  checked  us  all  off 
and  had  no  word  to  say  further  than  to  reiterate  that  it  would 
be  impossible  for  any  one  to  leave  the  boat  until  Wednesday 
night  at  8:00  o'clock. 

The  "Baby"  (Virginia  knows  whom  I  mean!)  was  announced 
just  then  and  created  a  slight  diversion  for  a  few  minutes,  but 
we  were  one  and  all  too  disappointed  and  too  annoyed  for  any 
diversion  to  appease  us  even  momentarily.  Undoubtedly  it  is 
very  gratifying  to  know  that  such  adequate  precautions  are 
taken  and  all  that  kind  of  thing,  but  it  is  very  exasperating 
when  it  is  sprung  upon  you  as  a  complete  surprise!  Later 
General  Edwards  came  over  on  a  launch,  accompanied  by  the 
"Baby,"  and  they  talked  over  the  situation  with  Jack  but  told 
him  that  no  amount  of  pull  would  do  any  good;  that  he  had 
tried  methods  fair  and  foul,  all  to  no  purpose.  The  natural 
result  of  all  this  was  for  some  one  to  remark  every  few  minutes, 
which  needless  to  say  they  did,  "It  is  just  this  which  has  made 
Panama  possible,"  just  as  if  every  one  didn't  know  and  fully 
realize  that  fact,  and  just  as  if  it  helped  the  situation  any! 
Alas,  we  are  so  peevish !  A  more  depressed  set  of  people  I  Ve 
never  seen!  No  one  seems  to  remember  that  there  is  a  silver 


Sunday 
March  26th 


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44 


Sunday 
March  26th 


Monday 
March  2t*> 


lining  to  every  cloud,  and  that  we  have  four  extra  days  of 
"Cappie's"  charming  company,  who  is  tired  of  the  party  and 
is  going  to  leave  us  at  Panama — the  traitor! 

We  consoled  ourselves  by  playing  Bridge  this  afternoon  and 
saying  what  we  thought  of  the  Health  Officer  in  terms  none  too 
guarded,  so  after  unpacking  our  belongings  we  are  just  calmly 
resigned  to  our  fate.  And  now  after  all  that  exaggerated  talk  of 
how  dissatisfied  we  are  with  our  lot  and  each  other,  which  is  all 
a  lie,  I  'd  like  to  add  that  the  only  reason  we  mind  being  quar- 
antined is  that  we  may  have  to  give  up  some  of  the  ports  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  that  we  all  get  on  so  well  that  we'd  just  as 
soon  be  quarantined  for  a  month.  We  are  as  comfortable  as  we 
will  ever  be  in  our  lives,  we  can  amuse  ourselves  in  a  hundred 
different  ways,  and  if  I  thought  four  days'  quarantine  would 
prolong  our  journey  four  extra  days,  I  should  be  waving  a  flag 
and  shouting  "Hallelujah!" 

To-night  the  lights  in  the  sky  were  too  wonderful!  Like  the 
vari-colored  rays  from  a  giant  rainbow  searchlight  on  the  hori- 
zon! There  must  be  a  word  that  expresses  exactly  what  I  mean, 
or  a  group  of  them,  but  alas,  I  don't  know  it.  If  any  one  does,  I 
wish  he  would  tell  me.  It's  maddening! 

"Cappie"  was  cruel  to  me  at  dinner  to-night  and  we  had  a 
vacation  from  arguments  for  a  change.  He  said  the  one  thing 
that  no  woman  can  bear  to  hear!  I  don't  need  to  say  what  it  is, 
for  every  woman  will  know  what  I  mean,  and  some  unsuspect- 
ing man  would  then  have  a  deadly  weapon  in  his  hands  if  so 
far  he  has  lived  in  ignorance  of  the  taunt! 

OUR  first  visitor,  when  Virginia  and  I  were  breakfasting 
with  Mary  in  her  room  this  morning,  was  the — Health 
Officer.  If  any  of  us  looked  one  per  cent  as  measly  and  sickly 
and  puny  as  be  does,  I  shouldn't  blame  them  for  not  wanting  us 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


on  shore,  now  or  at  any  other  time!  When  he  saw  our  costumes — 
it  is  inexcusably  warm,  and  so  it  isn't  our  fault  if  we  are  garbed 
accordingly  at  that  hour  in  the  morning — he  retired  in  great 
confusion !  After  weaving  and  measuring  out  enough  red  tape  to 
encircle  the  globe,  they  finally  permitted  us  to  send  our  laundry 
ashore,  which  was  a  great  relief  to  everybody's  mind.  The  only 
real  excitement  to-day  was  the  catching  of  a  shark  about  eight 
or  ten  feet  long!  I  wonder  if  there  is  any  beast  in  the  world  more 
hideous  and  repulsive  looking?  They  hauled  him  up  where  we 
could  photograph  him  by  way  of  a  diversion.  He  is  probably 
the  most  photographed  shark  in  the  world! 

The  Cap  and  I  kissed  and  made  up  at  dinner  to-night!  It 
seemed  to  be  a  wise  thing  to  do,  and  besides  the  hot  weather  is 
making  me  thinner  so  he  can't  insult  me  in  the  same  way  again 


anyway 


ANOTHER  day  in  Port.  The  Health  Officer  didn't  arrive 
until  about  eleven  this  morning  hoping  to  find  every  one 
up,  but  he  found  us  all  having  breakfast  in  Mary's  room  as 
usual,  and  he  took  one  look  at  our  morning  costumes  for  the 
Tropics  and  ran  out  of  the  room  as  he  did  yesterday.  We  might 
have  all  had  aggravated  cases  of  smallpox  and  he  would  never 
have  known  it!  It  was  a  visit  of  lightning  as  well  as  enlightening 
duration!  After  luncheon  Virginia,  Jack  and  some  of  the  others 
went  over  to  the  Quarantine  dock  to  greet  Judge  Babbitt  and 
Mr.  Hayden — from  a  distance! — who  arrived  this  morning  and 
will  continue  on  the  trip  with  us.  They  returned  with  a  lot  of 
letters  and  telegrams  for  every  one,  and  best  of  all  with  the 
news  that  we  are  to  be  allowed  to  land  to-morrow  at  three  p.m. 
The  rest  of  us  played  Bridge  in  an  effort  to  keep  cool. 

"Cappie"  was  very  amusing  and  entertaining  this  evening 
at  dinner,  though  I  believe  he  originally  intended  to  tell  a  per- 


Monday 
March  2Jtb 


Tuesday 
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Tuesday 
March  28* 


Wednesday 
March  2th 


fectly  serious  story  of  a  dagger-hold-up  "adventure"  in  Italy. 
However,  when  he  got  as  far  along  in  the  narrative  as  "Sybil's 
couch,"  he  was  pounced  upon  by  ten  sharp-witted  people  at 
once,  and  we  never  did  hear  the  end  of  his  story,  though  a 
number  of  endings  were  suggested  to  him  as  being  unusually 
appropriate! 

WE  WENT  up  to  the  oil  docks  this  morning  where  they 
kept  a  careful  watch  to  see  that  no  one  slipped  ashore, 
and  towards  three  o'clock  we  were  allowed  to  land  at  the  main 
docks  after  having  been  previously  inspected  minutely  by  that 
annoying  little  Health  Officer.  Motors  met  us  and  we  drove 
first  to  the  Tivoli  Hotel.  Perfectly  paved  roads  shaded  by  palm 
trees,  with  trim  little  houses  on  either  side,  all  built  several  feet 
above  the  ground  and  protected  by  the  finest  wire  screens  in 
every  window  and  on  every  piazza.  Ancon  Hill,  where  the 
Officers'  quarters  are  situated,  is  a  hilly  park.  Lawns  and  shade 
trees  and  flowering  shrubs  give  it  a  gay  and  well-kept  appear- 
ance, and  the  houses  all  look  invitingly  cool  and  comfortable. 

We  left  our  various  belongings  at  the  Hotel,  and  then  started 
off  on  a  shopping  tour.  Virginia  and  Mary  hunted  up  a  dress- 
maker to  make  them  some  linen  skirts,  and  it  was  as  good  as  a 
play  to  listen  to  her  uninterrupted  flow  of  American  slang 
mingled  with  "Yes  dearie"  every  other  moment.  However  she 
made  the  skirts  in  the  short  time  required,  so  we  won't  abuse 
her,  poor  old  soul! 

The  city  of  Panama  itself  is  most  fascinating.  Its  narrow 
winding  streets  with  quaint  balconied  houses,  brightly  colored 
verandas  hung  with  orchid  plants  and  baskets  of  ferns  are 
charming.  It  seems  to  be  a  thoroughly  enterprising  town.  The 
shops  are  very  creditable  and  the  shop-keepers  are  friendly  and 
courteous. 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


We  dined  with  General  Edwards  and  had  a  really  delightful 
evening.  His  house  could  not  be  better  adapted  to  the  sur- 
roundings. Situated  on  the  edge  of  a  bluff,  he  has  a  beautiful 
view  of  the  harbor  from  a  very  long  and  wide  piazza,  which 
extends  across  the  entire  front  of  the  house.  The  piazza  floor 
is  highly  polished  hardwood  and  if  one  does  like  to  dance  in 
such  a  hot  climate  nothing  could  be  more  ideal.  A  number  of 
Army  people  came  in  after  dinner  and  seemed  to  thoroughly 
enjoy  the  dancing.  We  left  rather  early,  as  to-morrow  we've  a 
strenuous  day  ahead  of  us.  Every  one  is  anxious  to  make  the 
most  of  each  moment,  now  that  our  time  here  has  been  cut  so 
short. 

Nobody  murmurs  at  early  rising,  so  at  eight-thirty  we  were 
all  ready  to  start  off  on  a  sightseeing  day.  Indeed  if  the  day  had 
been  a  hundred  hours  long,  I  personally  would  have  felt  it  were 
all  too  short  to  see  the  many  interesting  things  we  were  only 
able  to  have  a  fleeting  glimpse  of.  We  went  first  in  General 
Edwards'  motor  car,  which  is  built  to  run  on  the  railroad  track, 
to  the  Pedro  Miguel  lock.  The  motor  car  looks  exactly  like  a 
child's  toy  engine,  but  it  didn't  act  very  much  like  a  toy  on  the 
trip  to  Colon  and  back,  as  most  of  the  time  we  were  running  at 
55  miles  per  hour,  by  the  speedometer.  My  puerile  remarks  on 
the  subject  of  the  Canal  would  be  absurd,  but  a  more  impressive 
sight  it  would  be  hard  to  imagine.  The  "Baby"  went  with  us, 
and  took  us  up  in  the  Control  Tower  where  there  is  an  exact 
reproduction  of  the  locks,  showing  every  foot  of  water  that  runs 
in  and  out,  and  every  turn  of  a  screw  and  action  of  a  valve. 
It  is  perfectly  marvelous,  though  "Cappie"  insisted  that  the 
electrical  devices  were  only  half  the  horse  power  of  various 
electrical  plants  that  he  controlled  and  that  it  was  all  quite 
simple  and  commonplace.  To  me,  knowing  nothing  of  such  things 
of  course,  it  was  stupendous  and  absolutely  fascinating  in  its 


Wednesday 
March  2ytb 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


48 

Wednesday 
March  2^tb 


perfection  of  detail.  We  then  returned  to  the  motor  car  and 
went  a  short  distance  to  Corazal,  a  little  station  above  Pedro 
Miguel,  where  a  launch  was  waiting  to  take  us  some  distance 
through  the  Canal.  We  all  climbed  on  top  of  the  launch  and 
went  through  the  Culebra  cut,  where  it  was  particularly  inter- 
esting to  see  the  dredging  work  going  on — hundreds  of  men  and 
innumerable  steam  shovels.  It  was  like  a  close  observation  of  a 
giant  ant  hill.  I  suppose  if  one  knows  exactly  how  many  square 
yards  of  dirt  have  to  be  removed,  and  how  many  workmen  it 
will  take  the  exact  number  of  days  to  accomplish  it  in,  one 
receives  an  entirely  different  impression.  It  simply  becomes  an 
interesting  mathematical  problem  on  a  large  scale,  but  to  the 
eye  of  a  novice  and  an  amateur  it  is  startling  and  unbelievable 
and  impressive  beyond  words  to  describe.  It  is  thrilling!  It 
seems  like  a  bold  interference  of  man  with  the  powers  that  be, 
and  leaves  one  wondering  which  side  will  win  out — numbers 
and  ingenuity  extraordinary,  against  sheer  bulk. 

At  Gamboa  we  rejoined  the  little  motor  with  Colon  as  our 
destination.  Of  all  the  drives  we  have  had  so  far,  it  proved  to 
be  the  most  beautiful  from  the  viewpoint  of  tropical  luxurious- 
ness  of  growth.  Such  a  wealth  of  green  growing  things  is  unim- 
aginable! Where  the  Gatun  Lake  has  been  flooded  all  the  trees 
have  died  and  naturally  all  the  undergrowth  is  submerged. 
The  dead  trees  stand  leafless  and  white  like  so  many  grave 
stones,  and  every  one,  almost  without  exception,  is  replete  with 
orchid  plants. 

The  hotel  at  Colon  is  very  modern,  one  of  the  few  things  we've 
seen  that  hasn't  looked  as  though  it  were  built  the  century 
before  last  so  to  speak!  We  had  our  luncheon  out  on  a  screened 
porch,  overlooking  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  incidentally,  espe- 
cially for  people  living  in  California  or  New  York,  I  can't  begin 
to  describe  the  curious  feeling  of  having  left  the  Pacific  Ocean 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


an  hour  or  so  before,  and  here  to  be  on  the  very  edge  of  the 
Atlantic!  The  table  was  too  small  for  our  large  party  (shades  of 
the  Josselyn  family  travelling  abroad,  when  we  could  never 
have  a  meal  without  the  aid  of  a  carpenter  and  several  saw 
horses  and  ten-foot  planks!)  so  "Cappie"  and  I  had  a  "dejeuner 
a  part,"  during  which  he  tried  again  to  tell  me  I  must  not  think 
the  mechanism  of  the  Canal  was  in  the  least  intricate,  etc.,  but 
I  prefer  not  to  believe  him  and  as  I  '11  never  know  as  much  as  he 
does  about  engineering  and  electrical  problems,  I  never  expect 
to  agree  with  him,  and  shan't  allow  my  beautiful  illusions  to  be 
shattered. 

On  the  way  back  we  stopped  at  the  Gatun  Locks  and  walked 
over  to  the  spill-way,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  impressive 
thing  of  all,  but  I  will  not  make  any  remarks  on  the  subject. 
It  would  be  so  absurd  for  me  to  do  so.  We  went  through  the 
hydro-electric  plant  and  saw  the  three  water-wheels,  and  all 
the  machinery  which  is  always  awe-inspiring  in  its  precision 
and  perfection.  The  paths  around  the  buildings  and  the  lawns 
and  flowers  are  kept  in  the  most  immaculate  condition.  From 
one  end  of  the  Canal  to  the  other  the  order  of  every  nook  and 
cranny  is  absolute.  It  might  be  a  tiny  model  property  glimpsed 
through  a  powerful  spy-glass  instead  of  the  tremendous  finished 
operation  it  is. 

General  Edwards  and  the  "Baby"  dined  with  us  to-night 
and  afterwards  every  one  started  off  on  a  "joy  ride"  to  see  the 
town.  Walter  and  the  Doctor  had  been  thoroughly  posted  on 
the  ins  and  outs  of  it  by  the  loquacious  Hotel  Barber  who  had 
begun  his  career  in  the  Palace  Hotel,  San  Francisco,  and  knew 
a  thing  or  two — or  three!  So  immediately  after  the  serving  of 
"the  sweets,"  which  are  passed  at  every  meal  and  which  are  no 
other  than  quinine  capsules,  the  party  started  off. 

I  can't  record  the  story  of  their  sight-seeing  tour  as  I  was 


Wednesday 
March  2^b 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Wednesday 
March  2^b 


Friday 
March  31^ 


dead  to  the  world  and  had  just  one  idea  in  my  head  which  was 
to  crawl  into  bed  without  delay.  I  believe  they  went  to  the 
Exposition,  which  was  a  perfect  farce,  but  the  rest  of  the  expedi- 
tion wasn't  revealed  to  me! 

THIS  morning  Virginia,  Mary,  Walter,  the  "Baby"  and  I 
motored  out  to  Old  Panama.  It  is  a  beautiful  drive  and 
the  ruins  are  remarkably  interesting  because  the  walls  are  in 
such  a  strong  condition  of  preservation,  though  it  is  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  since  the  city  was  pillaged.  Enormous  trees 
are  growing  out  of  the  centres  of  what  were  once  great  rooms. 
The  situation  is  very  beautiful — up  on  a  kind  of  terrace  land 
above  the  sea.  Unfortunately  the  spirit  of  "once  upon  a  time" 
is  completely  overshadowed  by  a  large  square  roadhouse  where 
even  from  the  outside  one's  glimpse  is  of  walls  lined  with 
bottles,  and  the  sun's  rays  just  struck  a  glittering  cash  register, 
while  a  jangling  tin-pan  electric  piano  was  made  to  play  imme- 
diately upon  our  arrival.  Such  a  monstrous  insult  to  our  apprecia- 
tion of  things  ought  not  to  be  tolerated.  I  can't  think  of  Old 
Panama  without  hearing  an  abominable  barbarous  tune  being 
ground  out  of  that  wretched  instrument.  I  was  sorry  to  miss 
seeing  the  fortifications  which  all  the  men  went  to  see,  while  we 
were  at  Old  Panama,  though  I  wouldn't  have  missed  the  latter 
for  anything. 

We  went  through  the  Prison  and  found  the  prisoners  to  be  the 
most  cheerful  people  imaginable!  They  were  all  sitting  around 
in  the  court  yard  chatting  comfortably.  We  were  shown  a  hor- 
rible black  room  without  light  or  air  of  any  kind,  a  ring  of  iron 
in  the  floor  to  chain  the  prisoner  to,  and  one  in  the  ceiling  to 
chain  his  arms— a  really  ghastly  hole.  We  asked  naturally  if  they 
often  had  men  chained  in  there,  and  the  guard  said  he  would 
point  out  a  man  who  belonged  there  now,  and  spent  his  nights 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


there  but  was  allowed  out  all  day  because  he  worked  at  some- 
thing or  other,  which  was  profitable  to  the  Prison.  He  showed 
him  to  us — a  stout,  burly  looking  creature,  who  wasn't  working 
at  all  but  sitting  on  a  stool  gossiping  idly  with  two  other  men. 
It  may  have  been  a  recreation  hour,  but  it  certainly  looked 
rather  as  though  the  guards  were  very  indulgent.  The  man 
grinned,  but  not  in  the  least  sheepishly.  He  seemed  to  be 
immensely  amused!  Down  at  one  end  of  the  yard  there  was  a 
high  wooden  fence,  and  perched  up  on  the  opposite  side  were  a 
number  of  women.  They  looked  strong  and  healthy  and  on  the 
whole  rather  pleased  with  themselves.  A  kind  of  proud  conceit 
over  being  singled  out  at  any  price!  A  white  woman  in  the 
corner  with  quite  a  commonplace  face  and  expression  had  cold- 
bloodedly killed  a  man,  but  apparently  it  wasn't  on  her  con- 
science at  all.  The  guard  said  no  one  was  ever  hung. 

We  went  through  several  churches  none  of  which  was  particu- 
larly interesting,  and  then  to  see  the  flat  Arch,  an  old  ruin, 
probably  of  a  Church,  in  the  middle  of  the  city,  and  after  that 
to  the  National  Theatre,  a  really  good  building,  but  unfor- 
tunately we  were  unable  to  see  the  interior. 

We  lunched  with  General  Edwards,  who  is  a  delightful  host, 
and  had  a  most  enjoyable  time.  Soon  afterwards  we  departed 
for  the  docks  and  next  came  the  only  sad  incident  of  our  trip — 
a  tearful  parting  with  dear  old  "Cappie, "  whom  all  were 
equally  loth  to  leave  behind!  Various  people  whom  we  had  met 
at  General  Edwards'  house  including  himself  and  the  "Baby," 
and  a  fascinating  little  Panamanian  girl,  Miss  Espinoza,  and 
her  brother,  came  to  tea  on  the  Cyprus.  No  one  stayed  long 
however;  departure  was  in  the  air.  Before  we  knew  it  almost,  we 
left  "Cappie"  sitting  on  the  dock  and  were  off,  away  and  out 
of  sight.  We  gave  three  rousing  cheers  and  waved — handker- 
chiefs that  were  somewhat  limp,  and  as  a  parting  goodbye, 


Friday 
March  jis 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Friday 


Saturday 
April  i  -st 


Jack  dipped  the  flag!  Of  course  we've  no  illusions  about  "  Cap- 
pie's"  boring  himself  to  death  in  Panama  or  anywhere  else,  but 
he  wanted  to  come  along,  and  we  wanted  him  to  "come  along" 
and  we're  all  very  sad! 

Judge  Babbitt  and  Mr.  Hayden  joined  us  at  Panama,  and  if 
Judge  Babbitt  will  kindly  forgive  my  impudence  in  being  so 
personal,  I  should  like  to  record  my  avowed  intention  here  and 
now  of  showing  him  very  marked  attention.  I  am  certain  he  is  a 
most  delightful  person.  I  have  been  warned  that  Mr.  Hayden 
and  I  will  quarrel,  because  I  am  so  inexcusably  positive  prob- 
ably, but  we  shall  see;  I  don't  think  so. 

Since  I  Ve  renounced  all  talk  about  sunsets  I  will  once  again 
refrain  from  more  than  mentioning  the  dazzling  one  that  saw 
us  sail  out  of  the  harbor.  Every  one  was  tired  out  this  evening 
with  the  day's  adventures  and  emotions,  except  Walter  whose 
energy  is  inexhaustible  and  before  we  knew  it  he  had  us  playing 
a  disastrous  rubber  of  Bridge!  Virginia  and  I  were  only  just 
wide  awake  enough  to  follow  suit,  but  short  of  not  renigging,  I 
am  convinced  we  didn't  play  one  single  card  "according  to 
Hoyle." 


of  sight  of  land  all  day.  A  little  Bridge,  but  if  I  adhere 
mercilessly  to  the  truth  I  shall  be  forced  to  admit  that 
the  entire  day  was  devoted  to  Deep  Sleep  by  most  of  the  party! 
I've  just  concluded  we're  all  terribly  and  distressingly  grown 
up,  for  there  were  no  April  Fool  jokes.  Perhaps  we  were  too 
weary  after  such  strenuous  days  in  Panama  and  too  sad  over 
the  absence  of  "Cappie"  to  be  so  light-hearted!  At  least  those 
are  the  only  excuses  I  can  think  of  for  ignoring  the  foolishnesses 
that  keep  us  young! 

A  hawk  alighted  on  one  of  the  masts  to-day,  though  we  are 
over  two  hundred  miles  off  shore! 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


WE  HAD  a  glimpse  of  the  mainland  to-day.  At  nine  this 
morning  we  crossed  the  Equator.  But  there  were  no 
events,  adventures  or  remarks  apropos  of  this,  which  is  a  bitter 
disappointment  to  me  of  course.  I  've  heard  all  my  life  of  the 
pranks  played  on  persons  who  cross  the  Equator  for  the  first 
time,  and  wanted  to  see  them,  but  I  believe  it  is  my  own  fault 
entirely  as  the  Crew  had  some  "goings  on"  but  it  was  so  early, 
alas,  that  we,  as  an  audience,  were  not  on  deck.  Strangely 
enough  this  is  the  coolest  day  we've  felt  in  weeks! 

\  RATHER  overcast  sky.  We  are  making  record-breaking 
./Y.  time  and  a  heavy  land  swell  has  been  the  principal  topic 
of  conversation  among  certain  persons!  It  has  really  been  a  day 
of  Bridge — ceaseless  and  unending.  At  dinner  a  heated  argument 
on  the  difference  between  instinct,  intuition  and  reason  made 
every  one  homesick  for  "Cappie,"  though  on  this  particular 
occasion,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  whether  any  one  except 
Jack  lodged  especially  for  his  presence,  as  it  would  have  meant 
a  discussion  probably  lasting  until  midnight.  And  it's  rather 
too  hot  for  that! 

ANOTHER  more  or  less  overcast  day.  The  islands  just 
before  reaching  the  port  of  Callao  were  literally  covered 
with  gulls,  countless  numbers.  With  the  spy-glass  one  could 
see  barely  a  single  speck  of  rock  on  which  there  was  not  a  bird 
resting,  and  the  whole  ocean  was  dotted  with  them  flying  about 
and  diving  for  fish.  The  coolness  of  the  atmosphere  is  a  blessed 
relief — to  me  at  least,  and  a  first  appearance  of  sweaters,  and 
steamer  rugs  might  have  been  observed,  though  it  is  still  quite 
warm  enough  to  sit  about  in  thin  clothes  without  either  coats 
or  rugs,  unless  one  is  sleeping,  a  pastime  that  has  been  much 
indulged  in  today! 


Sunday 
April  2n<l 


Monday 
AprL 


Tuesday 
Apriljtb 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Tuesday  We  anchored  about  seven  p.m.,  and  fortunately  all  the 
arrangements  for  our  immediate  landing  had  been  made.  Billy 
Holloway  turned  up  and  it  seemed  nice  to  see  a  familiar  face — 
not  that  any  one  is  homesick,  but  just  on  general  principles. 
We  had  dinner  on  board  and  left  immediately  afterward  for 
Callao,  just  a  big  seaport  town  of  which  we  couldn't  see  very 
much  at  that  time  of  night.  An  electric  car  met  us  at  the  dock 
and  in  twenty-five  minutes  we  were  in  Lima.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Aldrich  didn  't  come,  but  Judge  Babbitt  and  Mr.  Hayden  were 
sufficiently  enthusiastic  to  take  a  reticule  between  them  and 
brave  a  night  spent  in  the  Hotel. 

We  went  first  to  Billy  Holloway 's  house,  which  is  situated 
conveniently  for  him,  just  over  the  offices  of  W.  R.  Grace  &  Co. 
and  where  he  lives  with  a  very  nice  young  man  named  Charlie 
Bush,  who  proceeded  to  join  the  party.  Their  house  is  really 
exceptionally  charming:  large  cool-looking  rooms  with  an  alto- 
gether delightful  absence  of  bric-a-brac.  In  the  dining  room  is  a 
set  of  really  good  old  Sheraton,  and  in  the  sort  of  living  hall, 
where  the  floor  is  tiled,  are  nice  big  stuffed  chairs  and  a  table 
with  books  and  papers;  flowers  everywhere.  In  another  room 
was  a  grand  piano,  and  the  spotless  hard-wood  floor  looked  very 
inviting  for  dancing.  Off  this  room  a  few  steps  led  through  a 
window  to  a  little  roof  garden,  an  awning  overhead,  a  lot  of 
comfortable-looking  chairs  and  plants  and  flowers  in  the 
greatest  profusion.  Whatever  these  young  men  may  have  to 
contend  with  in  living  in  a  foreign  and  faraway  country  they 
are  certainly  only  to  be  envied  with  regard  to  their  little  home. 
It  is  wonderfully  attractive. 

We  drove  all  about  the  city  in  really-truly  old-fashioned 
French  fiacres,  except  that  they  were  all  drawn  by  two  horses. 
The  drivers  insisted  upon  racing  each  other  through  the  narrow 
streets,  which  left  much  to  be  desired  as  a  lark  in  the  minds  of 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


the  passengers!  We  went  out  to  a  place  called  The  Exposition, 
where  we  had  some  lemonade  and  expected  to  see  some  gaiety 
from  the  appearance  of  the  place  which  was  large  and  festive 
looking,  but  it  was  almost  empty,  and  Mr.  Holloway  assured 
us  it  was  never  anything  else.  There  was  quite  a  good  orchestra 
composed  of  Austrian  women.  It  was  rather  grotesque  to  see  the 
bass-viol  being  played  upon  by  a  large  woman  in  a  white  "girl 
graduate"  sort  of  costume,  as  indeed  they  were  all  dressed. 

There  was  a  single  row  of  cocoanut  palms  that  stood  out 
wonderfully  against  the  sky  in  the  moonless  night,  and  from 
the  terrace  where  we  sat  it  was  lovely.  We  drove  around  the 
town  which  was  exceedingly  quiet,  and  then  took  the  electric 
car  to  Callao,  and  went  back  to  the  Cyprus  for  the  night.  To- 
morrow morning  we  will  see  Lima  in  our  usual  thorough  way. 

EVERY  one  was  up  early  and  ready  for  a  strenuous  day. 
We  left  the  yacht  about  9:30  and  were  back  in  Lima  soon 
after  ten.  We  climbed  into  the  rickety  old  hacks  again — they 
are  so  much  more  amusing  to  drive  about  these  cities  in,  than 
the  motors  which  tear  through  the  streets  at  a  terrific  speed  and 
give  you  no  opportunity  to  see  the  thousand  and  one  things 
that  one  wants  to  see.  We  did  a  substantial  amount  of  shopping 
of  course,  and  entered  all  the  churches  we  passed  and  then  out 
to  the  Museum.  There  were  grave  doubts  as  to  whether  we 
would  be  permitted  to  see  the  Museum,  as  the  old  keeper  had  a 
serious  sense  of  his  responsibility  and  no  one  was  allowed  to 
visit  between  the  hours  of  twelve  and  one.  He  "shooed"  us  all 
away  as  hard  as  he  could,  but  Walter  walked  right  past  him 
with  the  demeanor  and  bearing  of  a  king,  and  the  man  stood 
by  with  an  awed  expression  and  then  let  the  entire  troop 
through  his  little  gate,  with  an  air  of  deference  that  was  amus- 
ing! It  is  a  very  large  museum  with  the  usual  things  in  it,  but 


Tuesday 
Apri 


Wednesday 
Aprils* 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Wednesday  nothing  that  we  could  discover  of  any  extraordinary  interest. 
We  went  to  the  National  Theatre  and  to  the  Market  and  all  the 
customary  points  of  interest,  and  then  to  Mr.  Holloway's  house 
where  we  had  a  delicious  luncheon. 

We  went  afterward  to  see  an  old  Church.  There  was  a  Monas- 
tery next  to  it  and  a  Monk  took  all  the  men  through  it,  but  the 
rest  of  us  were  not  allowed  to  cross  the  sacred  precincts,  much 
to  our  disappointment.  We  were  particularly  distressed  at  being 
denied  this  privilege  when  the  men  returned  and  told  us  how 
beautiful  the  court  was  and  what  wonderful  old  treasures  they 
had  been  shown. 

Our  day  in  Lima  was  a  thoroughly  satisfactory  one  but  I 
could  have  wished  we  had  had  several  to  spare  there.  I  am 
certain  there  are  all  kinds  of  things  to  see  and  places  to  visit 
that  we  did  not  have  time  for. 

To-night  we  had  a  Fancy  Dress  dinner  to  celebrate  Virginia 
and  Jack's  first  anniversary.  Virginia  wore  an  impromptu 
Tehuantepec  costume,  with  additional  Lima  touches.  Jack  and 
Mr.  Hayden  and  Judge  Babbitt  attired  themselves  in  scrapes 
which  had  been  picked  up  in  Mexico.  Walter  was  a  pirate,  in  a 
costume  made  entirely  by  his  admirers,  the  crew.  His  bale  rope 
hair  and  beard,  and  the  whisk  brooms  for  pistols  were  scream- 
ingly funny.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aldrich  were  a  Dutch  bride  and 
groom.  Having  brought  their  costumes  from  New  York,  which 
were  exact  in  every  detail,  their  appearance  was  hailed  with 
great  enthusiasm.  Mary  wore  a  bathing  suit,  which  by  the  way 
was  the  only  time  she  had  occasion  to  wear  it.  It  was  censored. 

There  were  speeches  and  toasts  and  good  wishes  galore — 
everybody  loves  a  Fancy  Dress  party. 


Friday 
April 


AT  SIX-THIRTY  this  morning  we  found  ourselves  at  Mol- 
lendo— just  an  open  roadstead  but  an  infinitely  better 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


landing  than  San  Jose.  Mr.  Rogers  came  on  board  and  various  Friday 
other  persons,  and  soon  after  we  went  on  shore  prepared  for  a  $r  ?' 
ten  days'  trip  into  the  interior  of  Peru  and  Bolivia.  At  first  we 
thought  we  should  have  to  get  into  a  chair  and  be  hauled  up  to 
the  quay  by  a  kind  of  derrick,  but  they  assured  us  it  was  the 
smoothest  sea  they  had  seen  for  six  months  and  we  landed  quite 
comfortably.  Our  special  train  was  waiting  for  us,  a  chair  car 
and  three  sleeping  cars.  While  they  put  the  baggage  on,  Mr. 
Aldrich  took  some  moving  pictures  which  ought  to  be  very 
interesting  as  there  was  a  great  deal  of  activity  of  many  and 
varied  kinds  going  on  around  the  docks.  In  one  corner  a  group 
of  men  had  taken  off  all  their  clothes  and  were  scrubbing  them 
quite  unconcernedly  on  the  edge  of  the  pier;  barges  and  boats 
of  every  conceivable  kind  were  being  loaded  and  unloaded; 
altogether  it  was  a  very  busy  and  bustling  scene  and  one  that 
was  most  interesting,  as  the  people  seemed  all  to  be  much  more 
alive  and  wideawake  than  any  of  those  we  had  seen  heretofore. 
We  left  Mollendo  about  nine,  and  wound  up  the  sandy,  rocky, 
brown  mountains — the  picture  of  desolation,  a  few  half-deserted 
villages  with  ragged  children  grouped  about  the  huts  watching 
the  train  go  by,  and  donkeys  untethered,  but  unlikely  to  stray 
from  the  only  signs  of  civilization  for  miles  and  miles  and  miles 
in  every  direction.  An  almost  unbelievable  sight  as  we  climbed 
the  rugged  mountains  was  the  glimpse  of  a  fertile  little  valley 
below,  all  under  cultivation  and  planted  principally  with  sugar 
cane.  It  looked  exactly  like  a  wide  river  bed,  as  indeed  it 
undoubtedly  had  been,  with  steep  straight  mountainous  banks. 
The  valley  winds  a  little,  just  as  the  river  originally  taught  it 
to  do,  and  only  ends  with  the  sea.  We  could  see  the  ocean  for 
miles  and  miles  as  we  wound  in  and  out  of  the  mountains:  a 
great  blue  expanse  with  the  sun  shining  brightly  on  it,  in  spite 
of  all  the  accounts  I  Ve  read  in  books  on  South  America,  which 


58 

Friday 

April  7^ 

on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


HH 


invariably  say  the  sun  never  shines  except  through  a  kind  of 
hazy  mist  on  the  west  coast  along  here. 

It  seemed  strange  to  meet  Mr.  Rogers  so  far  away,  of  whom 
we  had  seen  something  in  San  Francisco  ten  years  or  more  ago ! 
He  will  be  with  us  for  several  weeks  I  believe,  having  been 
working  at  the  mining  properties  Jack  is  interested  in.  We 
deluged  him  with  questions  about  the  country  and  its  products, 
needless  to  say,  as  we  are  all  equally  anxious  not  to  let  any- 
thing of  interest  escape  us. 

The  hills  are  covered  with  a  scrubby  little  plant  so  sparse  and 
colorless  that  even  from  a  very  short  distance  they  appear  to  be 
absolutely  bare.  Now  and  then  a  cactus  plant  catches  the  eye, 
and  once  or  twice  we  saw  small  herds  of  mountain  sheep,  but 
generally  these  were  to  be  seen  near  the  railroad  water  stations. 
At  Cashendo,  after  about  two  hours  of  steady  climbing,  we  had 
a  marvelous  glimpse  of  snow-covered  Misti  with  the  sun  shining 
on  it.  The  hills  are  a  network  of  narrow  winding  paths  made  by 
the  goats  and  sheep  and  llamas.  They  look  like  great  colossal 
outline  maps,  which  of  course  they  are,  if  I  may  be  pardoned 
for  saying  so. 

We  had  a  really  excellent  luncheon:  chicken,  unusually  good 
potatoes  and  the  most  delicious  grapes  and  peaches.  Every- 
body drank  Agua  Jesus',  which  is  of  course  " du  pays." 

At  a  little  station  called  Vitor,  we  found  a  tiny  hut  which  had 
been  fitted  up  as  a  Church.  An  attempt  to  make  an  altar  had 
been  accomplished  by  draping  the  rough  boards  with  quan- 
tities of  white  tarlatan,  on  which  were  placed  one  or  two  primi- 
tive colored  statues.  Next  door  was  another  such  hut,  which 
was  the  village  school.  There  were  two  or  three  little  desks  in  it. 
It  would  have  been  interesting  to  see  a  class  in  progress! 

The  town  consisted  of  nothing  except  the  railroad  station  and 
one  or  two  adobe  huts. 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


59 

Soon  we  came  to  a  kind  of  plateau  covered  with  sand  dunes,     Friday 
formed  identically  alike  in  the  shape  of  a  half  moon.  The  train     ^ 
was  stopped  and  we  all  got  out  to  examine  and  photograph 
them.  It  would  be  impossible  to  imagine  finer  white  sand  or 
more  symmetrical  figures.  Some  were  larger  than  others  but  the 
plain  suggested  a  giant  bakery  of  French  "crescents"!   By 
actual  calculation,  they  move  toward  the  sea  about  three  hun- 
dred feet  per  year.  What  a  fascinating  prank  of  Nature's  to 
baffle  and  confuse  us? 

At  two  o'clock  we  reached  Arequipa.  Needless  to  say  we  were 
met  at  the  station  by  a  Ford !  Other  motors  as  well,  but  aways 
the  inevitable  Ford.  First  we  drove  around  the  Square,  which 
is  very  large,  and  is  given  an  air  of  great  importance  by  the 
Cathedral,  which  occupies  one  entire  side.  The  Cathedral  is  a 
really  beautiful  building,  architecturally  quite  unlike  anything 
we've  seen.  Afterwards  we  visited  the  Church  of  the  Jesuits 
which  is  full  of  treasures.  The  main  entrance  is  of  magnificently 
carved  stone,  but  this  was  locked  and  barred,  so  we  walked 
down  the  side  street  and  got  in  through  a  little  passage  way 
where  there  were  lovely  trees,  plants  and  vines  all  in  bloom. 
The  sacristy  has  a  wonderful  frescoed  dome  which  is  unusually 
beautiful,  and  there  are  some  splendid  old  paintings  and  statues. 
In  the  church  proper  are  several  altars  of  gilded  carved  wood, 
very  ornate  but  exquisitely  done.  Mary,  Walter  and  I  followed 
the  Priest  up  a  little  winding  stairway  to  a  kind  of  terrace  where 
the  stone  and  masonry  were  crumbling  away  before  our  very 
eyes,  but  from  where  we  had  a  delightful  view  of  the  old  Cloister 
and  a  garden  below.  We  climbed  up  a  little  higher  still,  up  stone 
steps  worn  so  thin  in  the  centre  that  we  positively  had  difficulty 
in  reaching  the  top  without  falling  backward — up  to  the  belfry. 
The  Priest  told  us  they  had  been  forbidden  to  ring  the  bell 
which  hung  there,  because  it  was  thought  the  vibration  would 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


60 


Friday  cause  the  entire  Church  to  collapse,  and  from  the  great  cracks 
Apnlft  ancj  }oose  stone,  it  appeared  to  be  more  than  likely  that  just 
this  would  happen.  From  here  the  view  of  the  Cathedral  facade 
and  spires  across  the  Square,  and  snow-covered  Misti  in  the 
distance,  was  a  sight  alone  that  one  would  willingly  have  come 
all  this  way  to  see. 

Next  we  visited  the  Hospital — a  very  modern  and  apparently 
well  equipped  one.  It  consists  of  a  dozen  or  more  one-story 
buildings  with  a  Chapel  in  the  centre  and  nicely  kept  gardens 
on  all  sides.  We  went  into  two  or  three  of  the  wards;  they  were 
scrupulously  clean  and  quite  cheerful  looking.  We  were  told 
that  there  was  a  great  deal  of  typhoid  in  Arequipa;  at  any  rate 
there  must  be  a  great  deal  of  illness  of  one  kind  or  another  as 
every  bed  was  occupied. 

We  motored  up  to  the  Harvard  Observatory,  which  is  situ- 
ated, I  should  say,  about  two  miles  from  the  centre  of  the  town. 
The  streets  were  so  narrow  that  there  was  only  just  room  for 
the  motor  to  creep  along,  and  when  we  met  a  pedestrian  or  a 
donkey  or  llama,  they  would,  individually  or  collectively,  have 
not  only  to  get  up  on  the  apology  for  a  side-walk,  but  some- 
times even  huddle  into  a  doorway,  to  permit  us  to  pass!  Such 
filthy  hovels  I've  never  imagined  could  exist!  Little  square  or 
rounded  rooms  of  adobe  with  a  smoky  fire  smouldering  in  the 
middle,  and  men,  women,  children,  dogs  and  chickens  grovel- 
ling about  on  the  floor  in  the  midst  of  such  dirt  as  it  would  be 
wicked  to  describe!  It  was  really  sickening. 

The  Observatory  was  very  interesting.  We  saw  the  Moon, 
and  after  some  difficulty,  the  Cross  on  the  summit  of  Misti, 
placed  there  some  years  ago  by  the  Bishop  of  Peru — to  fulfill  a 
promise  he  had  made  to  the  people  when  the  plague  should  be 
eradicated.  We  saw  numerous  plates  of  the  photographic  tele- 
scope which  I  fancy  are  not  unusual,  but  I  had  never  seen  any 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


before  and  was  interested  in  the  process  by  which  the  telescope 
and  plate  are  made  to  synchronize  with  the  motion  of  the 
Earth. 

At  six  o'clock  we  returned  to  our  funny  little  train.  Every  car 
is  a  different  shape,  size  and  height — a  perfect  picture  of  rem- 
nants of  different  sets  of  childish  toys  hitched  up  together! 
One  couldn't  dream  there  would  be  any  possibility  of  its  re- 
maining "hitched  up"  if  the  ridiculous  little  engine  should 
start! 

EVERY  one  was  a  little  the  worse  for  the  altitude  last 
night.  We  were  up  as  high  as  14,688  feet  so  it  was  hardly 
surprising!  Right  on  the  summit,  to  make  matters  worse,  we 
had  a  hot  box  and  were  delayed  for  an  hour  or  more.  All  day 
the  train  wound  its  way  through  the  mountains  and  along  the 
river  banks.  I  Ve  never  seen  more  beautiful  country.  All  the 
little  valleys  were  cultivated,  and  even  half  way  up  the  steep 
mountain  sides  the  ground  was  terraced  and  every  available 
inch  used  to  the  best  advantage.  The  villages  succeed  each  other 
almost  without  interruption,  all  exactly  alike  in  their  grouping 
around  the  Church,  and  all  built  of  mud,  some  tiled  and  some 
thatched,  and  almost  invariably  with  an  iron  cross  on  the  roof. 
Along  the  trails,  donkey  and  llama  packs  followed  by  a  man  or  a 
woman  or  sometimes  both  and  children  as  well,  trudged  their 
weary  way.  The  Indians  were  dressed  without  exception  in  the 
peasant  costume  of  the  country  and  are  by  far  the  most  pic- 
turesque natives  I've  ever  seen  anywhere  in  the  world:  always 
a  blue  skirt  and  a  red  jacket,  and  the  weirdest  little  flat  hats. 
The  women  drive  the  llamas  over  the  hills,  often  with  a  baby 
slung  on  their  backs  in  a  shawl  and  spinning  as  fast  as  they  can 
with  a  kind  of  little  home-made  wooden  top.  This  whole  day 
has  absolutely  fascinated  me  from  beginning  to  end.  The  coun- 


Friday 
Apri 


Saturday 
AprilS* 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


62 


Saturday 
April  8* 


try  itself,  the  little  succession  of  huddled  villages,  the  extra- 
ordinarily picturesque  costumes,  the  "  old-worldness "  which 
I  adore! 

As  we  neared  Cuzco,  both  sides  of  the  river  were  thickly  over- 
grown with  broom  plant  all  in  flower;  quantities  of  pampas 
grass  and  cactus,  hung  with  a  grayish  kind  of  moss. 

We  arrived  at  Cuzco  about  6:30  and  went  up  to  the  Hotel  for 
dinner  in  a  clattering  old  street  car  drawn  by  four  scrawny 
mules.  Incidentally,  it  is  the  only  wheeled  vehicle  in  the  town. 
There  isn't  a  wagon,  an  ox-cart  or  even  a  wheelbarrow!  Every- 
thing is  packed  on  the  backs  of  donkeys  and  llamas  for  trans- 
portation, or  else  in  a  sack  slung  over  the  backs  of  the  men  and 
women. 

We  had  quite  a  good  dinner  at  the  most  elaborately  decorated 
table  it  is  possible  to  conceive  of.  Every  ornament  in  the  house 
had  been  put  in  the  middle  of  the  table  with  here  and  there  a 
tight  little  bunch  of  flowers,  and  colored  tissue  paper  cut  into 
every  kind  of  fancy  design  was  strung  from  the  ceiling  and 
festooned  about  the  walls.  There  must  have  been  at  least  nine 
or  ten  courses,  five  or  six  of  which  were  different  kinds  of  meat. 
Quantity  rather  than  quality  seems  to  be  the  motto  they  follow 
in  most  of  these  places.  The  Hotel  itself  was  rather  a  quaint 
place  built  around  a  court  with  a  little  upstairs  arched  gallery 
painted  in  the  usual  bright  blue.  After  dinner  we  took  a  walk 
around  the  Square,  which  is  said  to  be  the  largest  in  Peru,  and 
went  into  one  or  two  Churches.  It  was  too  dark  to  see  much  of 
anything  in  detail,  but  a  wonderful  occasion  for  a  general 
impression.  It  was  all  delightfully  old. 

Later  we  went  back  to  the  car  to  spend  the  night  in  preference 
to  the  Hotel;  every  one  retired  very  early  so  that  they  might 
have  a  "from  the  beginning  to  the  end"  sightseeing  day  on  the 
morrow. 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


OUR  first  visit  in  Cuzco  this  morning  was  to  the  Market.  Sunday 
Being  Sunday,  it  was  an  unusually  good  day  to  see  it. 
Such  a  blaze  of  color!  A  more  spectacular  sight  one  could  not 
picture.  Hundreds  and  hundreds  of  Indian  men  and  women 
with  their  babies  on  the  ground  beside  them,  selling  food,  cloth- 
ing, and  even  wood  and  charcoal.  Each  was  dressed  in  bright 
blue,  red  and  green,  the  men  wearing  comical  little  knitted  caps 
with  ear  flaps,  tied  under  their  chins,  trousers  that  came  just 
below  their  knees,  and  the  poncho,  often  ragged  but  always 
dazzling  in  color.  The  women 's  hats  were  shaped  exactly  like  a 
large  dinner  plate  made  of  some  kind  of  black  cloth  with  little 
square  and  triangular  bits  of  colored  cotton  sewn  in  a  design 
on  the  top.  Every  now  and  then  a  drove  of  llamas  came  walking 
by,  with  their  ridiculous  long  necks  and  empty  little  heads  held 
in  the  most  absurdly  disdainful  and  proud  aristocratic  way, 
reminding  one  so  unmistakably  of  the  type  of  persons  who  "  put 
on  airs"  without  the  slightest  justification  for  doing  so! 

At  the  corner  of  the  market  square  a  Magician  stood  on  a  high 
platform,  making  remarkable  fluted  fans  out  of  newspaper  in  a 
really  miraculous  way,  but  the  Indians  were  all  infinitely  more 
interested  in  the  collection  of  strange  foreigners,  and  deserted 
his  booth  to  follow  us,  whereupon  the  Magician  flew  into  a  rage 
and  shouted  dreadful  sounding  names  at  them  and  at  us  as 
well!  From  eight  in  the  morning  until  seven  at  night  we  had 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  men  and  boys  following  us  from  place 
to  place,  dogging  our  footsteps,  so  to  speak.  One  little  imp  took 
a  tremendous  fancy  to  Virginia  and  made  it  his  business  person- 
ally to  conduct  her  every  step  of  the  way  through  Cuzco;  he 
even  gave  her  some  pennies,  which  I  think  must  have  been  the 
very  last  word  in  devotion !  We  all  bought  ponchos  and  caps  at 
the  Market  with  the  much  needed  help  of  Mr.  Watkins  who 
bargained  for  us  very  successfully.  Next  we  found  our  way  to 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Sunday  an  Antique  shop  where  Virginia  bought  a  perfectly  beautiful 
ipnlyt  Crucifix  and  the  rest  of  us  picked  up  various  interesting  old 
souvenirs  of  Inca  days.  Every  step  we  took  through  the  streets 
was  full  of  interest:  the  old  Inca  walls,  the  carved  stone  door- 
ways, the  exquisitely  carved  wooden  balconies,  and  always  the 
Indians  with  their  glory  of  color!  We  climbed  up  a  steep  winding 
narrow  street  to  a  second  curiosity  shop,  where  we  found  more 
interesting  souvenirs.  The  man  had  only  a  few  really  nice  things 
that  he  was  willing  to  sell  and  here  as  elsewhere  appeared  to  be 
perfectly  indifferent  as  to  whether  we  bought  anything  or  not, 
though  we  realized  that  this  was  just  part  of  his  game  as  he 
made  every  possible  effort  to  get  us  to  go  back  to  his  shop 
again  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  very  things,  such  as  an 
exquisite  piece  of  Inca  tapestry  woven  in  silver  and  gold,  that 
he  wouldn't  sell  at  all  on  the  occasion  of  our  first  visit,  he  finally 
agreed  not  only  to  part  with,  but  to  part  with  at  Jack's  price 
and  not  his  own! 

We  spent  an  interesting  half-hour  in  the  Cathedral  which  is 
very  beautiful  and  filled  with  marvelous  carving,  mostly  drop- 
ping to  pieces.  It  seems  a  perfect  sacrilege  not  to  keep  these 
treasures  intact,  but  they  are  now  only  remnants  of  a  past 
splendor.  The  Choir  stalls  are  too  beautiful!  On  a  carved  stand 
was  a  collection  of  wonderful  old  vellum  music  books,  and  over 
a  gilt  chair  was  carelessly  thrown  a  piece  of  glorious  rose  colored 
Genoese  velvet.  The  grille  of  carved  gold  and  reddish  wood, 
about  twenty  feet  high,  which  enclosed  the  Choir  stall  was 
superb.  The  carved  Pulpit,  the  silver  Altars,  each  separate  thing 
was  a  work  of  art.  In  an  adjoining  room,  exquisite  carved  chests 
and  doors  were  piled  up  against  the  walls,  covered  with  dust 
and  dirt  just  as  old  lumber  might  be  stored  in  a  cellar.  Amongst 
various  other  things  was  part  of  a  grandfather's  clock  made  of 
Chinese  lacquer;  now  how  do  you  suppose  that  ever  got  there? 
I 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


From  the  Cathedral  we  went  to  the  Church  built  on  the  foun- 
dations of  the  original  Temple  of  the  Sun;  of  this  last  there  is 
just  a  curved  wall  remaining.  There  is  a  Monastery  next  the 
Church,  so  "the  ladies"  were  left  outside  a  heavy  iron  bound 
door,  while  a  Monk  took  the  men  through  the  sacred  precincts ! 
We  went  into  the  Church  to  wait  for  them  and  thought  we 
heard  the  music  of  an  organ  very  faintly,  but  as  we  tiptoed  up 
to  the  Altar,  we  found  a  very,  very  old  woman,  dressed  all  in 
black  with  a  heavy  black  shawl  over  her  head,  playing  on  a 
kind  of  home-made  harp.  Her  small  hands  and  stiff  gnarled 
ringers  seemed  somehow  to  have  very  little  to  do  with  the  music, 
the  same  air  over  and  over  again,  but  with  never  a  hint  of 
monotony.  I  believe  very  reverently  that  the  music  we  heard 
was  the  music  of  her  soul.  I  do  not  think  any  of  us  have  ever 
seen  in  all  our  lives  a  more  awe-inspiring,  touching  and  pathetic 
scene.  As  Virginia  so  aptly  remarked,  "Who  says  that  the 
Jongleur  de  Notre  Dame  is  fiction?"  When  the  Monk  returned, 
he  told  us  that  the  old  woman  was  totally  blind,  and  that  for  as 
long  as  he  could  remember,  which  was  many  many  years,  she 
came  every  day  of  her  life  and  played  before  the  Altar  for  hours. 
Perhaps  the  notes  of  that  primitive  old  harp  are  heard  a  long 
way  over  the  seas. 

We  peeked  into  the  forbidden  court,  which  was  a  very  great 
mistake  because  it  was  difficult  to  be  resigned  to  not  seeing  it 
all,  it  was  so  beautiful.  The  centre  was  a  mass  of  blooming 
flowers,  and  under  the  arches  the  walls  were  hung  with  enor- 
mous oil  paintings  of  Biblical  scenes;  the  floor  was  of  mosaic: 
harmonious  unfaded  colors,  that  the  world  to-day  admires  but 
does  not  imitate. 

After  luncheon  at  the  Hotel,  we  started  off  on  our  pilgrimage 
to  the  Inca  ruins  above  Cuzco.  I  shouldn't  call  them  ruins  for 
every  stone  is  just  exactly  where  it  was  placed  and  where  it  was 


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intended  that  it  should  remain,  so  many  years  ago  that  such  a 
time  seems  too  indefinite  to  mention  in  terms  of  new-fashioned 
years ! 

A  whole  troop  of  horses  were  brought  down  to  the  narrow 
little  street  in  front  of  the  Hotel,  and  it  must  really  have  been 
an  amusing  sight  to  watch  us  mount  them,  which  was  accom- 
plished with  some  difficulty.  The  saddles  were  just  as  funny  as 
they  could  be;  no  two  were  alike.  They  might  easily  have  been 
selected  by  a  crank  collector,  who  wanted  freak  saddles  for  an 
exhibition!  They  were  of  every  conceivable  variety,  size  and 
age.  Most  of  the  side-saddles  were  built  exactly  on  the  opposite 
plan  to  ours,  and  seemed  to  have  been  designed  with  a  diabol- 
ical opposition  to  the  human  anatomy!  If  a  horse  sneezed  we 
were  sure  to  be  off!  It  was  an  amusing  cavalcade  that  started 
up  the  steep  narrow  streets;  the  Indians  seemed  to  see  the 
humor  of  it  too.  They  looked  us  over  critically,  and  smiled  and 
whispered  amongst  each  other  in  an  indulgent  sort  of  way! 
Once  out  of  the  city,  we  climbed  up  a  steep  flight  of  roughly 
hewn  stone  steps  which  the  horses  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course.  There  must  have  been  a  quarter  of  a  mile  at  least  of 
this  unique  kind  of  highway  and  just  as  we  reached  the  top,  the 
rain  came  down  in  torrents,  which  was  hardly  reassuring  for  the 
descent  later  on.  No  one  was  dressed  either  for  riding  or  for 
rain,  and  needless  to  say  we  were  soon  drenched  to  the  skin. 
Virginia  and  Mary  fared  the  worst  as  over  their  thin  dresses 
they  had  only — pongee  dusters! 

The  old  fortifications  are  composed  of  marvelous  great  stones 
of  inestimable  size  and  weight,  placed  one  on  top  of  the  other 
with  the  most  perfect  precision,  and  never  a  particle  of  cement 
to  hold  them.  One  can  only  weakly  conjecture  how  the  Indians 
ever  got  the  stones  there  in  the  first  place  or  how  they  ever 
moved  them;  and  finding  that  one  fails  utterly  to  guess  the 


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67 


riddle,  give  it  up  and  be  content  to  wonder  and  admire  and 
respect.  We  urged  our  horses  up  a  steep  path  which  led  to  the 
very  top  where  we  had  a  remarkable  panoramic  view  of  the  city 
of  Cuzco,  and  all  the  surrounding  country  as  well. 

We  went  on  to  a  grassy  little  plateau,  where  a  group  of  people 
were  thoroughly  enjoying  a  Sunday  picnic.  There  was  a  tent  at 
one  side,  where  several  old  women  and  an  old  man  were  sitting 
sheltered  from  the  rain,  and  from  where  they  watched  the 
young  people  dancing  merrily  to  the  music  of  a  guitar,  with  the 
most  perfect  and  enviable  disregard  of  the  weather!  We  saw  the 
famous  sliding  stone,  and  on  all  sides  were  seats  and  steps  cut 
out  of  the  solid  rock,  and  at  the  base  of  one  huge  mass  of  stone 
was  the  entrance  to  a  cave  which  is  supposed  to  connect  by 
underground  passages  with  the  Cathedral  in  Cuzco.  They  told 
us  a  tale  of  some  adventurous  Americans  exploring  this  passage 
way,  who  were  never  heard  of  again,  but  somehow  it  didn't 
sound  like  a  true  story,  and  no  one  was  particularly  impressed 
by  it.  The  fields  were  a  mass  of  lovely  wild  flowers,  especially 
bright  colored  with  quantities  of  wild  calceolaria. 

As  we  started  down  the  flight  of  steps  on  our  poor  patient  old 
horses,  the  rain  came  down  with  redoubled  energy.  A  drove  of 
llamas  barred  our  way,  and  appeared  to  be  peculiarly  indifferent 
as  to  whether  we  ever  got  by  or  not;  it  seemed  to  be  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  them  to  come  to  a  standstill  and  rest.  How- 
ever, with  a  lot  of  prodding  and  coaxing,  the  Indians  finally 
drove  them  up  on  the  steep  bank  and  we  managed  to  slide  on 
down  the  pathway,  which  by  now  had  become  a  waterfall! 
We  would  have  gotten  along  fairly  well  if  the  small  boys  who 
had  followed  us  had  not  persisted  in  getting  right  under  our 
horses'  feet,  clutching  at  their  bridles  and  making  themselves 
a  nuisance  generally.  Virginia  spoke  to  them  harshly  in  English 
and  I  am  forced  to  admit  that  they  seemed  to  understand  her 


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Sunday  perfectly,  which  proves  that  it  really  isn  't  what  you  say,  it's  the 
w^yyousayit! 

We  went  back  to  the  train  and  changed  our  clothes  for  a  fresh 
exploring  tour  in  Cuzco.  No  one  had  minded  the  storm  in  the 
least.  The  ride  had  been  so  very  worth  while,  that  I  can't  really 
think  of  anything  that  could  have  spoiled  it  unless  it  were 
people;  certainly  not  things! 

We  went  next  to  the  Museum:  a  low  dark  room  in  the  inner 
court  yard  of  an  adobe  house.  An  old  woman  and  her  daughter 
hobbled  out  and  unlocked  the  door  with  a  fitting  degree  of 
solemnity,  and  lighted  two  candles  in  an  avaricious  sort  of  way, 
watching  them  burn,  and  secretly  hoping  we  would  soon  see  all 
we  wanted,  so  that  the  tallow  might  be  saved.  There  were  a 
number  of  skeletons,  mummies  rather,  hung  on  the  wall,  their 
knees  doubled  up  under  their  chins,  their  hands  clutching  at 
their  heads  and  the  most  terrible  expressions  on  their  faces 
that  it  is  possible  to  imagine.  Undoubtedly  they  had  been 
buried  alive!  There  were  some  old  Inca  war  weapons  and  a  lot 
of  pottery  and  a  few  old  carved  chests,  but  nothing  anybody 
coveted,  except  a  hideous  uncanny  trepanned  skull  which  Jack 
set  his  heart  upon  to  take  home  to  Dr.  Moffitt.  We  went  away 
empty  handed,  and  I  have  a  feeling  it  is  just  as  well!  From  here 
we  went  back  to  the  Antique  store  on  the  hill,  as  I  believe  I  've 
already  said.  A  white-frocked  friar  came  panting  up  the  hill 
after  us  to  beg  that  we  visit  his  Church,  called  the  Campania, 
before  we  leave  Cuzco,  which  we  promised  to  do.  In  due  time, 
we  arrived  at  the  Church,  warmly  greeted  by  the  old  Monk. 
Walter  tried  to  buy  a  rug  in  the  Church,  but  there  was  some 
rejoicing  when  he  failed,  as  it  looked  too  dirty  and  germy  for 
words!  I  crept  down  a  steep  narrow  little  flight  of  stairs  into  an 
underground  crypt,  in  search  of  adventure,  but  didn't  remain 
very  long  for  reasons  that  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  relate! 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


Cuzco  is  very,  very  real.  It  is  one  of  those  places  where  one 
leaves  an  intangible  something,  which  some  day  one  is  reminded 
one  must  return  to  claim. 

We  went  back  rather  reluctantly  to  the  train,  where  we  dined 
in  our  funny  little  two-by-four  dining  room;  an  evening  spent 
in  reflections  of  a  day  crammed  full  of  interesting  things  and 
thoughts  about  a  people  who  live  in  a  world  we  don't  under- 
stand. Sometime  I  shall  spend  a  hundred  days  in  Cuzco  at 
least;  it  is  a  place  where  ideas  are  born;  it  is  saturated  with 
reminiscences  of  a  past  that  belongs  to  us  but  which  we've 
ignored;  a  place  where  even  the  arrogant  and  intolerant  should 
be  willing  to  learn,  and  lay  teaching  aside  for  a  while. 

WE  LEFT  Cuzco  last  night  at  nine  and  arrived  early  this 
morning  at  Puno,  where  the  boat  was  waiting  to  take  us 
across  Lake  Titicaca.  It  was  quite  a  nice  boat,  large  and  with 
very  comfortable  clean  staterooms.  Lake  Titicaca  is  12,541  feet 
above  sea  level,  and  it  took  us  from  eight  o'clock  this  morning 
until  eight  o'clock  this  evening  to  reach  Guaqui — the  other 
end.  It  is  wonderfully  beautiful;  the  water  is  as  blue  and  as  clear 
as  it  is  possible  for  water  to  be,  and  on  one  side  is  a  range  of 
snow  mountains  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long;  utterly  inac- 
cessible heights  where  all  the  lights  of  the  world  find  a  resting 
place.  We  stopped  at  two  of  the  numerous  islands— the  Island 
of  the  Sun  and  the  Island  of  the  Moon. 

The  first,  the  Island  of  the  Sun,  had  a  little  miniature  harbor 
where  The  Inca  anchored.  We  got  into  a  rowboat  and  landed  on 
a  small  rocky  pier.  In  the  centre  of  the  half-moon  beach  a  pink 
adobe  farm  house  is  situated,  with  of  course  a  Church  just 
adjoining  it.  We  asked  to  be  allowed  to  go  into  the  Church, 
and  were  told  that  the  man  who  had  the  key  was  only  a  short 
distance  away,  and  they  would  send  some  one  to  fetch  him. 


Sunday 


Monday 
April  i  &b 


70 

Monday 
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on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


We  waited  a  long  time  but  the  man  with  the  key  never  ap- 
peared. There  was  one  hopeful  moment  when  an  Indian  came 
running  barefoot  down  the  mountain  side,  over  the  rockiest 
trail  imaginable,  but  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  key  of  the 
Church,  and  we  were  obliged  to  leave  with  our  curiosity  unsatis- 
fied. As  he  glided  along  that  precipitous  path  in  his  many- 
colored  costume,  he  looked  exactly  like  an  illustration  in  a 
boys'  book  of  adventure;  one  would  have  liked  to  turn  over  the 
illustrated  page  and  continue  the  story. 

When  we  were  ready  to  leave,  there  was  a  small  boy  missing, 
a  child  who  apparently  belonged  to  one  of  the  stewards  on 
The  Inca  and  who  had  come  ashore  with  us.  The  boat  whistled 
frantically  for  him,  and  finally  the  poor  kiddie — he  was  not 
more  than  seven  or  eight — came  running  back  from  I  don't 
know  where,  clutching  a  big  branch  of  some  shrub,  and  so 
breathless  I  thought  he  would  faint.  He  evidently  did  not  relish 
the  idea  of  being  left  alone  with  the  Indians  on  the  Island  of 
the  Sun.  His  trophy  proved  to  be  some  herb  with  wonderful 
healing  power  that  only  grew  on  that  Island. 

Our  next  stop  was  at  the  Island  of  the  Moon.  Here  again  we 
landed  in  the  small  boat,  which  they  ran  up  on  the  beach.  There 
was  no  pier  and  not  even  a  hut  in  sight;  only  the  marvelous  old 
ruins  of  the  Temple  of  the  Moon.  The  entire  population  came 
running  down  to  the  beach  to  meet  us  and  greeted  us  in  the 
friendliest  way  possible.  They  are  all  of  the  Aymara  tribe  and 
don't  speak  or  understand  any  Spanish  at  all,  but  they  seemed 
pleased  to  see  us  and  stood  in  groups  while  we  photographed 
them,  uncomprehending  but  ingenuously  amused  at  the  pas- 
time we  took  so  seriously  and  which  seemed  to  them  to  be  with- 
out results!  There  was  one  almost  beautiful  young  woman  with 
a  baby  tucked  away  in  the  shawl  that  was  slung  on  her  back. 
A  good  deal  of  embarrassment  was  caused  by  asking  her  which 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


man  was  her  husband — that  is,  embarrassment  among  us,  for 
she  was  quite  unconscious  of  any,  and  replied  with  a  smiling 
shrug  of  her  little  burdened  shoulders,  that  she  really  didn't 
know!  I  believe  these  Indians  have  no  marriage  laws,  that  is, 
they  don 't  marry.  I  suppose  the  world  brands  them  as  a  people 
without  morals.  Perhaps  in  their  primitive  way,  their  minds  are 
cleaner  than  ours,  who  judge  them.  We  are  all  so  busy  loudly 
proclaiming  to  the  world  what  our  individual  standard  of  right 
and  wrong  is,  that  very  few  of  us  have  any  time  left  to  put  our 
theories  into  practise.  I  have  a  great  deal  of  respect  for  the 
people  who  are  so  ignorantly  called  savages. 

We  rambled  all  over  the  ruined  Temple  which  is  situated  on 
the  height  overlooking  the  great  wide  blue  lake  and  within 
worshiping  distance  of  the  snow  mountains.  There  was  a  splen- 
did old  wall  below  with  hardly  a  stone  out  of  place;  these  places 
are  so  full  of  interesting  things,  one  can't  possibly  leave  them 
in  any  way  satisfied.  There  were  some  small  boys  on  the  beach 
playing  with  sling-shots  woven  out  of  wool  and  it  was  remark- 
able to  see  their  skill  as  they  hurled  the  stones  out  into  the  lake, 
almost  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 

Here,  as  everywhere,  I  left  reluctantly.  Could  one  leave  in  any 
other  way  a  place  with  such  a  name?  The  Island  of  the  Moon! 
Half  the  romance  in  the  world  must  be  hidden  away  there. 

We  sailed  past  the  towns  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  and  until 
it  grew  dark,  revelled  in  seeing  what  I  think  must  be  the  most 
magnificent  scenery  in  all  the  world.  It  is  the  first  time  that  I 
have  been  able  to  put  a  definite  meaning  in  my  mind  to  the 
word  "scenery,"  but  now  I  know  that  it  describes  something 
exalted  that  one  can  only  speak  of  in  weak  meaningless  terms. 
The  snow  mountains  with  that  indescribable  light  on  them,  the 
reflection  in  the  water,  the  clouds  gathering  it  all  up  and  mak- 
ing a  pretense  of  running  away  with  it,  the  hillsides  planted  in 


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Monday     grain,  each  tinged  a  different  blending  color  by  the  setting  sun, 
April  ict      Ulemani   and  Serrata  both  over  20,000  feet  high,  majestic, 
stately,  cold  but  inspiring  nevertheless, — I  can't  describe  the 
beauty  of  this  close  of  day  on  Lake  Titicaca;  it  needs  a  language 
of  thought,  rather  than  speech. 

Tuesday  T  T  T£  SLEPT  on  the  boat  and  left  Guaqui  by  train  at  eight 
April ii  V V  o'clock  this  morning.  Just  a  few  miles  farther  on,  we 
stopped  at  Tiajuanaco  where  we  got  off  the  train  and  walked 
over  to  see  the  pre-Inca  Temple  ruins  and  monoliths,  the  most 
amazing  collection  of  colossal  stones  I  Ve  ever  seen.  Only  photo- 
graphs can  give  any  idea  of  them  though  I  'm  afraid  the  carved 
hieroglyphics  which  are  one  of  the  most  interesting  things  about 
them,  will  not  show  in  the  photographs,  as  the  inscriptions  are 
not  very  deeply  cut,  or,  what  is  perhaps  more  likely,  have  been 
almost  obliterated  by  time  and  the  effect  of  the  weather.  There 
are  two  statues  about  ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  one  facing  north 
and  one  facing  south;  a  massive  stone  gateway;  a  great  flight  of 
steps;  then  again  a  whole  row  of  smaller  statues;  fragments  of  a 
high  wall,  countless  things  to  fill  one's  mind  with  awe  and 
wonder.  In  the  centre  of  all  this  splendor  of  the  past  a  hideous 
steel  shed  has  been  built;  no  walls,  just  a  more  or  less  Pagoda 
shaped  roof  and  a  concrete  floor  and  they  have  dragged  what 
stones  they  were  able  to  move,  inside  it.  They  call  it  a  Museum, 
I  believe.  A  more  ridiculous,  pretentious  structure  it  would  be 
impossible  to  picture,  or  one  so  out  of  place  and  unnecessary. 
One  can't  but  wonder  who  ever  had  such  a  diabolical  idea.  Of 
course,  though  very  large,  it  is  too  insignificant  in  comparison 
with  that  half  unburied  city,  the  relics  of  a  civilization  we  are 
accustomed  to  speak  of  as  "barbarous,"  but  which  was  really 
so  much  greater  than  ours,  to  do  more  than  merely  exasperate 
one  for  a  brief  moment. 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


We  are  now  in  Bolivia,  having  crossed  the  border  between 
Bolivia  and  Peru  in  about  the  middle  of  LakeTiticaca.  At  1 1  rjo 
we  reached  a  station  called  Alto  where  a  little  electric  train  took 
us  down  into  La  Paz.  Just  before  we  started  on  our  descent, 
from  the  top  of  the  great  chasm,  the  view  of  the  city  hundreds 
of  feet  below  us  and  of  the  surrounding  mountains  was  too 
wonderful.  There  was  something  about  the  reddish  rocky  moun- 
tains that  suggested  very  vividly  some  portions  of  the  Grand 
Canon.  The  tiled  roofs  lent  an  exquisite  note  of  color,  blending 
perfectly  with  that  of  the  great  rocky  formation  on  all  sides. 

We  reached  the  city  shortly  after  twelve.  Driving  from  the 
station  we  were  much  interested  in  watching  the  inhabitants 
busily  washing  their  clothes  and  drying  them  along  the  banks 
of  the  river  which  winds  down  by  the  road.  Mr.  Aldrich  went 
back  to  take  some  moving  pictures  of  these  thrifty  people  which 
I  trust  will  be  good  but  unfortunately  the  glorious  blaze  of  color 
will  be  lacking!  We  drove  to  the  Hotel  Guibert  for  luncheon. 
It  was  an  old  Spanish  house  of  enormous  proportions,  and  the 
dining  room  in  the  court  looked  so  attractive  that  we  refused  to 
have  luncheon  in  the  dark,  stuffy  little  private  dining  room  they 
had  prepared  for  us,  but  it  didn  't  really  much  matter,  as  it  hap- 
pened, where  we  sat — we  might  just  as  well  have  given  up  the 
idea  of  luncheon  altogether  for  there  was  practically  not  a 
morsel  of  food  that  any  of  us  could  swallow!  In  spite  of  this 
fact,  the  hotel  keeper,  who  had  evidently  dined  well  but  not 
wisely  himself,  tried  to  charge  us  such  an  exorbitant  sum  for 
our  meal  that  I  wouldn't  dare  mention  it  for  fear  it  would  be 
called  a  "Josselyn  exaggeration"! 

Afterward  we  got  into  dilapidated  old  rock-a-ways  drawn  by 
four  horses  and  drove  out  through  the  residence  district  to  a  bluff 
from  which  we  had  a  magnificent  view  of  the  mountains  sur- 
rounding us,  and  of  the  city  beneath.  The  houses  looked  rather 


Tuesday 
April  1 1* 


74 

Tuesday 
April 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


French  villa-like;  quite  gay  and  perky!  Quantities  of  stained 
glass  windows  and  colored  statuary  in  the  gardens;  every  other 
one  was  a  Foreign  Embassy.  Next  we  visited  the  Museum  which 
was  full  of  very  interesting  Inca  relics  and  also  an  excellent  col- 
lection of  birds,  butterflies,  beetles,  snakes,  etc.  I  was  immensely 
interested  in  the  Ecuador  head  of  an  Indian  woman  reduced  to 
the  size  of  a  small  doll,  with  long  hair  apparently  in  perfectly 
healthy  condition.  The  mouth  had  three  wooden  pegs  through 
the  lips  in  perpendicular  fashion,  and  these  were  bound  from 
one  to  the  other  with  narrow  strips  of  raw-hide.  I  had  a  few 
words  of  conversation  with  the  old  German  in  charge,  who 
incidentally  was  just  back  from  San  Francisco  where  he  had 
been  sent  to  look  after  the  Bolivian  exhibition  at  the  P.  P.  I.  E. 
He  told  me  a  number  of  interesting  and  instructive  things  but 
when  I  asked  him  why  the  Indians  bound  up  the  mouths  of 
these  mummies,  he  only  smiled  and  said  they  knew  a  great 
many  things  that  we  do  not  understand  and  for  that  reason 
call  "  superstitions. " 

Mr.  Watkins  then  took  us  to  the  house  of  an  Indian  woman 
who  sold  furs,  antique  jewelry,  etc.  Walter  bought  some  sloth 
skins  which  are  quite  a  curiosity  with  their  fringey,  silky  fur 
that  appears  to  be  hard  and  bristly  until  you  touch  it;  Virginia 
got  a  vicuna  rug,  and  everybody  did  a  little  bargaining  for  the 
funny  dangling  antique  earrings  which  the  old  woman  wore 
herself,  and  was  quite  ready  to  part  with,  but  as  usual,  not  for 
any  reasonable  sum  of  money!  We  saw  some  really  good  chin- 
chilla skins  but  they  were  very  expensive  so  we  didn't  deprive 
her  of  them. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  a  Church,  where  with  some  difficulty  we 
removed  our  hats  as  all  women  are  obliged  to  do  whenever  they 
enter  a  Church  in  Bolivia  or  Peru.  A  religiously  inclined  person 
living  in  these  countries  would  soon  learn  how  to  do  with- 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


out  hatpins  and  veils.  The  only  things  we  saw  of  any  interest  or 
value  here  were  four  massive  old  silver  handmade  candlesticks 
that  were  within  an  inch  or  two  of  being  as  tall  as  I.  They  were 
exceptionally  handsome  and  Mary  coveted  them,  but  Walter 
wouldn't  even  make  inquiries  as  to  whether  they  could  be 
bought  or  not,  fearing  to  offend  the  Priest.  Later  on  we  dis- 
covered that  in  many  of  the  churches  they  were  only  too  glad 
to  sell  what  they  could;  they  have  so  many  treasures  that  they 
can  almost  always  replace  them.  From  here  we  went  to  the 
Church  in  the  Place  San  Francisco,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  we've  seen  so  far.  The  decoration  of  the  walls  and 
ceiling  was  very  Indian  in  design,  especially  the  stone  carving. 
There  was  a  beautiful  carved  wood  gilded  pulpit  and  we  found 
a  nice  old  chair  hidden  behind  a  door  with  the  back  and  seat  of 
exquisitely  carved  and  colored  leather,  the  kind  of  work  every- 
body has  been  searching  the  country  for,  like  the  trunks  Mary 
and  Virginia  bought  in  Cuzco,  but  which  is  so  hard  to  find. 

We  had  a  sudden  realization  that  we  were  starving,  having 
had  practically  no  luncheon,  and  so  bought  a  lot  of  sardines 
and  soda  crackers,  chocolate  and  such  things,  and  proceeded  to 
have  a  regular  school-girl's  feast  up  in  one  of  the  dingy  hotel 
rooms. 

Later  we  dined  at  the  Cafe  de  Paris,  if  you  please,  a  very  pro- 
gressive restaurant  in  more  than  name,  situated  on  the  main 
square.  We  were  joined  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Crum,  Mr.  Backus 
and  another  man  whose  name  I  can't  remember.  We  sat  at 
several  small  tables,  being  rather  a  large  party  by  this  time. 
I  shared  one  with  Judge  Babbitt,  Walter  and  Dr.  Allen.  Walter, 
the  Judge  and  I  waded  very  deep  into  an  argument  that  lasted 
during  dinner,  but  needless  to  say  no  one  was  convinced,  or 
reached  any  conclusions;  Dr.  Allen  was  exceedingly  patient 
with  us,  but  wouldn't  give  us  his  opinions. 


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76 


Tuesday  After  dinner  we  waited  a  more  or  less  indefinite  length  of  time 
Apr ili it  £or  ^e  electric  car  to  take  us  to  the  station,  as  all  the  horses 
were  apparently  overcome  by  the  strenuous  day  we  had  given 
them,  driving  up  and  down  the  steep  streets  again  and  again. 
Alas!  no  car  and  not  a  carriage  in  sight.  Eventually  one  hack — 
I  can't  call  it  anything  else — came  slowly  and  sleepily  along 
and  the  "ladies"  climbed  into  it  and  drove  to  the  station.  The 
men  walked  but  evidently  not  all  together!  We  suspect  Jack  of 
having  had  a  flirtation  on  the  way  as  he  appeared  only  long 
after  the  others,  and  not  until  Virginia  and  Mary  in  desperation 
had  headed  a  search-party!  We  went  up  to  Alto  in  the  same 
little  electric  train;  this  time  it  pushed  us  up  the  steep  winding 
hill  ahead  of  the  engine.  At  the  summit  we  found  our  train, 
which  is  a  thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy  forever!  Compartments, 
an  observation  car,  even  a  bathroom  all  done  in  white 
tiles !  Such  luxury !  Everybody  is  overcome ! 

Wednesday  TT  THEN  we  awoke  this  morning  we  found  ourselves  at 
Apr ili 2*  y  y  Machacamarca.  The  men  went  early  over  to  the  tin 
smelter  and  the  rest  of  us  followed  later  on.  It  is  only  about  a 
mile  away,  but  not  very  good  country  for  walking;  dusty  and 
dry  and  dirty,  and  very  hot.  We  got  on  a  flat  car  which  was 
drawn  over  the  rails  by  a  poor  boney  old  horse  prodded  along 
by  a  big  burly  Dutchman,  who  worked  infinitely  harder  than 
the  horse,  whipping  him,  shouting  at  him,  getting  off  and  push- 
ing the  car,  and  finally  taking  a  great  big  piece  of  wood  as  long 
and  twice  as  heavy  as  a  baseball  bat,  and  beating  the  poor 
creature  on  the  flank!  I  couldn't  quite  bear  that  and  protested 
rather  loudly.  The  Dutchman  turned  a  blank  look  of  surprise 
on  me,  as  much  as  to  say:  "It  can't  be  my  beating  the  horse 
that  you  mind.  He  HAS  to  be  beaten.  What's  the  matter  with 
you  anyway?"  and  I  saw  by  his  empty-faced  expression  that 


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77 


it  was  utterly  useless  to  remonstrate.  He  had  been  given  a  job — 
and  he  was  taking  pains  to  accomplish  it  in  the  only  way  he 
knew.  Had  he  been  told  to  count  the  clods  of  red  dirt  on  the 
plain,  it  would  never  have  occurred  to  him  to  do  other  than 
commence  at  a  given  spot  and  continue  until  he  was  told  to 
stop  or  until  he  died  of  old  age.  I  've  never  seen  a  countenance 
so  lacking  in  "Why  or  Wherefore?" 

Mr.  Henderson  took  us  all  over  the  works  which  were  very 
interesting  though  somewhat  crude  and  primitive,  and  terribly 
dirty  and  unkempt.  Indian  women  were  shovelling  ore  and  in 
fact  working  everywhere  at  one  thing  and  another  with  lazy 
monotony,  like  a  machine  that  is  running  down  but  that  can 
still  be  counted  on  to  accomplish  just  so  much,  which  is  all  that 
is  expected.  They  are  paid  about  thirty-three  cents  for  a  twelve- 
hour  day,  and  only  turn  up  when  they  feel  inclined;  apparently 
the  supply  is  greater  than  the  demand  (the  women,  not  the 
tin !).  We  spent  an  hour  or  more  seeing  it  all  and  then  came  back 
to  the  train  for  luncheon,  leaving  the  men  to  lunch  with  the 
Superintendent.  Fortunately  for  the  poor  maltreated  beast  that 
dragged  us  up  to  the  mine,  the  road  is  slightly  inclined  and  we 
coasted  all  the  way  back.  The  country  is  rather  like  Arizona 
desert  lands:  hot  and  dry  and  arid.  The  Indians  are  less  bril- 
liantly dressed  than  in  most  of  the  places  we've  been  to  so  far, 
but  very  picturesque  none  the  less. 

We  played  Bridge  all  afternoon,  with  a  kind  of  side-show 
going  on  outside  the  train  at  which  we  were  much  amused!  We 
watched  an  old  Indian  who  was  hammering  the  plaster  off  one 
of  the  station  buildings.  He  would  strike  a  blow  and  then  stare 
at  us  for  fully  five  minutes  at  a  time  before  striking  another. 
Finally  he  ambled  away  to  return  with  an  enormously  heavy 
spike.  It  must  have  been  at  least  ten  inches  long.  With  heavy 
slow  blows  he  finally  drove  it  into  the  wall.  We  thought  of 


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Wednesday 
Apr  Hi  2th 


Thursday 
April 


course  he  was  preparing  to  dynamite  the  building,  but  when  he 
had  succeeded  in  driving  it  in  all  the  way  he  carefully  removed 
his  patched  old  coat,  hung  it  up  on  the  spike  and  then  continued 
his  work.  He  seemed  to  be  puzzled  by  our  shouts  of  laughter, 
but  vaguely  knew  he  had  done  something  to  amuse  us,  and  was 
rather  pleased  with  himself  on  the  whole! 

EARLY  this  morning  we  arrived  at  Chocoya.  Almost  before 
we  were  awake  the  men,  except  Walter  who  remained  to 
protect  us,  started  off  for  the  Oploca  Mine.  We  followed  after 
luncheon.  We  got  into  funny  old  ramshackle  wagons  drawn  by 
four  mules,  and  drove  up  the  bed  of  a  river  all  the  way.  Not  a 
sign  of  vegetation  of  any  kind,  as  we  are  way  up  above  the  tree 
line  at  an  altitude  of  12,500  feet.  It  took  about  three-quarters 
of  an  hour  to  reach  our  destination.  Each  wagon  had  an  out- 
rider in  the  person  of  a  small  boy  riding  a  mule.  On  the  way  up 
we  couldn't  see  the  point  of  this,  and  wondered  what  the  small 
boy  was  destined  to  do,  but  on  the  way  down  the  reason  was 
obvious  enough,  as  the  traces  gave  way  at  intervals,  and  for 
that  matter  all  the  harness  looked  as  though  it  would  drop  off 
from  minute  to  minute!  The  little  outrider  was  a  busy  and  very 
important  personage  indeed! 

When  we  arrived  at  the  mine  we  drove  up  to  the  Superin- 
tendent's house  and  two  gentlemen  came  out  to  meet  us.  All 
we  could  say  was  How  do  you  do,  and  then  there  was  an  em- 
barrassing silence;  however  almost  immediately  we  discovered 
that  they  both  spoke  French  which  relieved  the  situation  some- 
what, and  everybody  was  able  to  "make  conversation."  They 
took  us  through  the  mills,  and  explained  a  great  many  things 
which  they  didn't  succeed  in  making  clear,  but  then  of  course 
that  was  our  fault;  anyway  it  was  well  worth  seeing. 

We  were  all  interested  in  the  market,  and  one  of  the  men 


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79 


bought  me  a  little  wooden  spinning  top,  which  afforded  me 
what  I  fancy  was  an  entirely  disproportionate  amount  of 
pleasure. 

As  soon  as  the  men  got  back  from  their  trip  underground,  we 
sat  down  to  the  most  elaborate  repast  imaginable.  A  table  set 
with  every  conceivable  kind  of  food  and  drink,  including  cham- 
pagne of  course !  They  were  a  most  cosmopolitan  group  of  guests 
who  sat  around  it  too.  An  Englishman,  a  Frenchman,  a  Boliv- 
ian, two  Germans,  and  ten  Americans.  Each  person  could  speak 
about  two  languages,  and  I  say  "about  two"  advisedly — but 
no  one  could  speak  them  all,  so  there  was  a  kind  of  double  plaid 
conversation  going  on  most  of  the  time.  The  German,  Mr.  Bloch, 
was  the  Manager  of  the  mine  and  he  and  his  wife  lived  there. 
The  others  were  visitors  like  ourselves.  Mrs.  Bloch  was  a  cheer- 
ful, competent  little  woman  insisting  that  no  one  should  pity 
her  because  she  lived  in  the  wilds,  as  she  loved  it  and  was 
neither  homesick,  unhappy  nor  even  discontented.  She  had  no 
complaints  of  any  kind  to  make.  Her  little  home  was  as  neat  as 
a  pin  and  she  took  great  pride  in  her  old  Indian  silver,  and  some 
other  really  good  Indian  things  which  she  had  collected.  It  was 
perfectly  evident  that  her  sun  rose  and  set  in  Hans  Bloch,  and 
the  fact  that  she  had  not  a  single  white  woman  to  speak  to,  or 
that  she  was  obliged  to  do  all  her  own  work  because  the  Indians 
were  so  dirty  that  she  couldn't  stand  them,  was  something  out 
of  her  life  entirely! 

Mr.  Marion,  the  Frenchman,  confided  to  me  that  sometimes 
relations  were  rather  strained,  on  the  occasions  of  his  visits, 
though  the  War  or  anything  relating  to  the  War  was  never 
mentioned  under  any  circumstances  whatsoever;  none  the  less 
sometimes  in  the  course  of  conversation  one  is  unable  with  all 
the  tact  in  the  world  to  refrain  from  mentioning  things  which 
have  such  a  close  bearing  on  the  War,  that  the  opinions  one  airs 


Thursday 
April 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Thursday 
April 


Friday 
April 


or  the  conclusions  one  comes  to,  may  in  consequence  seem 
prejudiced.  It  really  was  a  curious  meal!  We  had  ham  and  cheese 
and  caviar  and  potato  salad,  cake  and  chocolate,  in  fact  every- 
thing you  can  think  of  except  clam  chowder!  This  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  while  no  refusal  would  be  accepted 
when  you  tried  to  decline  to  drink  luke-warm  champagne  on 
top  of  it  all!  I  don't  mean  to  be  in  the  least  unkind,  as  it  was 
offered  in  the  most  friendly  and  hospitable  spirit  imaginable, 
and  poor  Mrs.  Bloch  had  gone  to  all  kinds  of  trouble  to  enter- 
tain us  and  I  am  sure  we  were  unusually  appreciative,  but 
having  just  had  our  luncheon  it  was  a  little  difficult  to  appear 
to  enjoy  her  feast  in  a  fitting  manner! 

We  left  Jack,  Mr.  Aldrich  and  Mr.  Hayden  at  the  mine  to 
spend  the  night,  as  they  were  going  underground  again  in  the 
morning,  and  we  returned  to  our  train.  And  while  I  am  speak- 
ing of  the  train,  a  word  about  the  kitchen.  On  second  thoughts 
I  don't  think  I  shall  describe  it,  as  none  of  us  who  have  walked 
through  it  several  times  a  day,  could  possibly  forget  it,  and 
there  is  no  reason  why  any  one  who  hasn't  seen  it  should  be 
inflicted  with  a  description.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  is  just  as  well 
I  have  abandoned  all  idea  of  telling  about  it,  as  I  couldn't  pos- 
sibly do  it  justice,  even  if  I  invoked  all  the  Josselyn  exaggera- 
tions of  a  lifetime! 

IT  WAS  freezing  cold  last  night  but  very  warm  all  day  to-day. 
While  we  are  sitting  here  in  the  middle  of  the  desert  waiting 
for  the  men  to  return  from  the  mine  there  is  little  else  to  do  but 
to  play  Bridge,  and  that  we  have  done  steadily.  Occasionally 
our  attention  has  been  distracted  from  the  Bridge  table  by  the 
arrival  at  the  station  of  droves  of  llamas  carrying  sacks  of  ore 
on  their  backs.  They  are  only  able  to  carry  a  surprisingly  small 
weight,  strangely  enough.  At  half  past  four  or  thereabouts  the 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


men  returned  and  we  were  soon  on  our  way  to  Chuquicamata. 
After  dinner  we  changed  trains,  and  everybody  expressed  regret 
at  leaving  our  nice  comfortable  quarters,  as  the  new  train  was 
very  inferior;  I  am  forced  to  admit  that  it  was  really  very  dirty, 
and  far  from  luxurious.  The  narrow  gauge  seemed  narrower 
than  anything  I  've  ever  seen,  and  the  bunks  narrower  in  pro- 
portion. However  a  little  discomfort  can 't  possibly  annoy  any 
of  us  for  more  than  a  moment;  we  are  enjoying  it  all  too  much 
to  let  such  trifles  have  any  place  in  our  minds. 

WE  ARRIVED  this  morning  at  the  Guggenheim  Copper 
Mines.  A  number  of  men  met  us  at  the  station  and  took 
us  up  to  the  Guest  cottage,  where  they  had  thoughtfully  pre- 
pared a  very  inviting-looking  breakfast.  We  had  had  our  tea  on 
the  train  however  so  could  not  be  tempted  to  have  another 
meal  quite  so  soon!  We  then  met  Mrs.  Guggenheim  and  Mrs. 
Potter,  who  proved  to  be  an  old  school  friend  of  Mary's,  and 
motored  with  them  up  to  the  Mine.  Unfortunately  it  was  lunch 
hour  by  that  time,  and  the  steam  shovels  were  not  working,  so 
we  really  saw  nothing  except  a  great  Culebra-cut-mountain  of 
rock.  The  whole  place  is  the  most  barren,  desolate  desert-like 
country  imaginable,  not  a  growing  thing  of  any  kind,  shape  or 
form.  They  have  built  a  great  number  of  galvanized  iron  houses 
for  the  employees.  The  interiors  are  finished  nicely  in  wood,  the 
rooms  are  large  and  comfortable  with  high  ceilings  and  open 
fireplaces,  big  bath  rooms,  everything  one  could  wish  for,  but 
one  would  need  all  that  and  more  too,  to  be  happy  there:  dry, 
rocky,  barren  hills  and  desert  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  It 
seemed  to  me  like  a  great  big  ugly  "behind  the  scenes"  of  the 
world. 

The  men  joined  us  for  luncheon  at  Mr.  Hellman's  house, 
where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Guggenheim  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Potter  are 


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Friday 
April 1 4'b 


Saturday 
Apri 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Saturday 
Apri 


Sunday 
Apr ill 6th 


staying  during  the  Hellmans'  absence  in  New  York.  We  had  a 
most  delicious  luncheon,  and  no  one  could  possibly  have  been 
more  cordial  or  more  hospitable  than  Mrs.  Guggenheim;  and 
she  needn't  have  been  at  all,  because  she  was  quite  pretty 
enough  to  be  rude  if  she  liked  as  far  as  I  was  concerned;  I  should 
still  have  enjoyed  seeing  her  about.  I  trust  I've  made  that 
compliment  very  plain,  for  she  was  just  as  charming  as  she  was 
pretty. 

The  house  was  delightful — such  a  relief  to  the  eye  to  actually 
see  something  green  growing  in  the  patio  after  the  barrenness  of 
"all  out  doors"! 

We  went  through  the  Hospital  this  morning,  which  was  large 
and  surprisingly  full.  Apparently  pneumonia  and  rheumatism 
are  the  most  prevalent  illnesses,  though  of  course  many  of  the 
patients  are  the  victims  of  mining  accidents.  The  Hospital  is 
very  well  equipped,  and  they  are  fortunate  in  having  been  able 
to  procure  an  excellent  physician  and  surgeon,  who  lived  a 
great  many  years  in  Mexico  and  who  speaks  Spanish,  besides 
having  an  enviable  comprehension  of  the  prejudices  and  pecu- 
liarities of  the  Indians.  Mrs.  Guggenheim  told  us  that  he  had 
succeeded  in  gaining  their  absolute  confidence,  which  I  imagine 
is  no  easy  matter. 

This  afternoon  we  played  a  little  sleepy  Bridge,  and  later  some 
of  these  energetic  people  had  the  courage  to  dance  to  the  music 
of  a  Victor,  though  how  they  could,  in  such  heat,  remains  a 
mystery  to  me!  Later  we  had  tea  and  at  about  seven  returned 
to  our  train. 

EST  night  was  the  last  of  our  train  journey.  Jack,  Judge 
Babbitt,  Mr.  Hayden  and  Walter  took  a  different  train  as 
they  wanted  to  see  some  nitrate  fields  about  which  "  the  ladies" 
seemed  to  have  no  curiosity!  Mary,  Virginia  and  I  didn't  take 


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__ 


off  our  clothes,  and  some  of  us  put  our  mattresses  on  the  floor 
of  our  four-bunk  compartment  where  we  slept  in  preference  to 
the  beds!  We  arrived  at  Antofogasta  at  half  past  six  in  the 
morning,  where  we  were  greatly  surprised  to  see  Tom  Bishop, 
who  had  come  down  to  the  train  to  meet  us.  Not  having  had 
our  clothes  off  all  night,  and  having  spent  a  bathless  ten  days, 
our  one  idea  was  to  get  to  the  Cyprus,  so  without  a  glance  at 
Antofogasta  we  made  a  bee-line  for  the  docks,  jumped  into  a 
little  boat  and  were  soon  on  the  yacht.  I  shan't  even  attempt 
to  describe  our  elation  at  regaining  our  own  delightful  bedrooms 
and  best  of  all  our  own  baths!  It  seemed  too  good  to  be  true. 
Mary  and  Virginia  went  to  see  the  town  a  little  later  and 
brought  Tom  Bishop  back  for  luncheon.  The  others  returned 
from  their  journey  to  the  nitrate  fields  a  short  while  after, 
bringing  with  them  Mr.  Marion  and  Mr.  Arce  who  are  going  to 
make  the  trip  to  Valparaiso  with  us. 

IT  WAS  quite  rough  last  night  and  for  that  matter  has  been 
anything  but  smooth  or  calm  all  day  to-day.  Mr.  Marion 
and  Mr.  Arce,  after  a  brave  but  very  brief  attempt  to  play 
dominoes  and  be  perfect  guests  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  dis- 
appeared below  in  a  pale-faced  condition  that  was  really  pitiable 
to  behold!  They  tried  so  hard  to  be  gay  and  debonair,  and  to 
assure  us  that  they  took  the  trip  so  frequently  that  it  didn't 
bother  them  at  all,  but  their  looks  and  eventually  their  actions 
belied  them,  and  they  were  obliged  to  give  in,  and  acknowledge 
they  were  just  plain  old-fashioned  seasick! 

Every  one  spent  the  afternoon  in  packing,  as  to-morrow  morn- 
ing early  we  land  in  Valparaiso,  where  we  leave  the  Cyprus 
while  she  sails  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  How  I  wish  it 
were  possible  to  be  in  two  places  at  once  and  go  around  the 
continent  and  cross  the  Andes,  as  well! 


Sunday 
April  1 6* 


Monday 
Apri 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Tuesday 


THIS  morning  we  got  into  a  heavy  fog  belt  and  neither 
land  nor  sun  could  we  see.  The  Cyprus  meandered  slowly 
up  and  down  and  around  in  circles;  twelve  o'clock,  and  one 
o'clock,  but  still  no  chance  of  getting  into  port.  We  were  very 
discouraged,  especially  as  some  Gloom  said  these  fogs  often 
persisted  for  days  without  a  break!  Shades  of  Panama  quaran- 
tine !  However,  at  about  two-thirty  the  fog  suddenly  lifted  and 
the  city  of  Valparaiso  lay  just  before  us.  We  lost  no  time  in 
running  into  the  harbor  and  were  on  shore  by  four  o'clock. 
Mr.  Wagner  met  us  and  suggested  that  we  motor  out  to  Vina 
del  Mar  for  dinner  which  was  an  excellent  idea  as  there  is  appar- 
ently nothing  whatsoever  to  do  or  see  in  Valparaiso.  We  got 
into  Fords,  naturally,  and  were  precipitated  to  Vina  del  Mar,  at 
the  usual  breakneck  speed.  No  power  of  persuasion  has  any 
effect  on  these  speed  maniacs  who  drive  these  Fords.  They  whirl 
you  in  and  out  and  around  and  through  traffic  in  a  way  that 
suggests  nothing  but  a  horrible  nightmare! 

Vina  del  Mar  is  quite  a  pretty  place,  about  ten  miles  from  Val- 
paraiso, principally  a  residence  district  for  the  latter  city,  I 
imagine.  It  is  full  of  villas  with  nicely  kept  gardens,  and  the 
whole  place  is  prosperous  looking.  We  drove  first  out  to  the 
race  course,  which  is  extremely  pretty  and  gay  looking  with  its 
terraces  and  great  masses  of  flowers  everywhere.  Then  we  had  a 
perilous  drive  along  the  quay.  I  say  perilous,  because  it  was 
quite  dark  by  this  time,  and  the  Ford  Racer  had  no  lights,  and 
twice  we  stuck  in  the  sand  on  side  streets,  and  once  the  road 
just  deliberately  ended  in  a  twenty-foot  drop  where  it  is  appar- 
ently intended  that  some  day  a  bridge  shall  be  built,  but  where 
there  wasn't  even  a  barrel  or  a  stake  to  warn  you  to  desist  from 
continuing  on  your  way.  Dr.  Allen  may  laugh  and  he  may  chaff, 
but  that  Ford  driver  had  just  enough  confidence  in  his  pesky 
little  car  to  try  a  running  leap  over  that  hundred-foot  span !  I  am 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


perfectly  convinced  that  this  was  exactly  what  he  was  planning 
to  do,  when  I  made  myself  heard,  which  in  itself  took  some 
courage,  as  the  Doctor  was  all  on  the  side  of  the  Chauffeur! 
I  watched  him  back  in  semi-circles,  on  a  readjust  wide  enough 
to  make  them  as  it  so  happened,  from  a  Safety  First  position 
taken  up  on  my  two  feet! 

Incredulous  as  it  may  sound,  we  actually  did  get  back  to 
town,  and  Mr.  Wagner  took  us  to  the  Club — a  man 's  club,  but 
where  they  very  hospitably  allow  ladies  to  come.  It  is  quite  an 
impressive  building,  and  looked  very  comfortable  and  pleasant. 
We  all  met  at  the  hotel  for  dinner.  Here  there  was  a  huge  court 
filled  with  trees  and  shrubs,  lovely  standard  begonias  and  hibis- 
cus and  all  sorts  of  bright-colored  flowers.  The  dinner  was  deli- 
cious but  we  literally  ate  and  ran,  as  we  were  obliged  to  catch 
the  eight  o'clock  train  for  Santiago.  It  only  took  us  four  and  a 
half  hours,  which  passed  very  quickly  as  we  played  Bridge  all  the 
way.  As  always,  every  possible  comfort  not  to  say  luxury  was 
provided,  and  we  had  a  whole  car  to  ourselves  to  lounge  about 
in  and  do  as  we  pleased.  Every  now  and  then  it  occurs  to  me 
what  these  four-  or  five-hour  night  journeys  would  be  like,  if  one 
had  to  sit  up  straight  in  a  seat  beside  some  disagreeable  stranger 
or  a  snoring  man,  etc. 

This  is  a  great  fruit  country  and  at  every  station  there  was  a 
long  line  of  women  selling  baskets  of  delicious  grapes  and  fruits 
of  all  kinds.  The  railroad  exacts  that  they  shall  wear  a  uniform, 
consisting  of  a  complete  overdress  of  white  cotton,  and  a  white 
cotton  hat  which  gives  them  somewhat  the  appearance  of 
trained  nurses,  especially  as  their  costumes  are  all  immaculately 
neat  and  clean.  At  eleven-thirty  we  arrived  in  Santiago.  I  was 
very  much  impressed  with  the  railroad  station,  a  splendid  build- 
ing in  itself  and  made  to  look  particularly  attractive  by  great 
tubs  of  bamboo  and  plants  of  all  kinds,  scattered  about  in  the 


Tuesday 
April  1 8* 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Tuesday 
Apr  Hi  8* 


Wednesday 
April 


ugly  corners.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  a  fine  station  gives  the 
visitor  an  excellent  and  lasting  first  impression  of  the  city  be- 
yond it.  If  it  pays  to  advertise,  and  I  believe  this  is  universally 
and  unquestionably  acknowledged  to  be  the  case,  a  handsome 
station  ought  to  do  more  than  almost  anything  else  for  a  city. 
In  the  inevitable  Ford,  we  drove  up  to  the  Oddo  Annex  Hotel, 
where  a  sleepy  porter  took  us  up  in  a  slow  old-fashioned  lift  to 
our  rooms.  No  clerk,  no  register,  nothing!  However  we  were  all 
much  too  tired  and  sleepy  for  any  comments;  on  the  contrary, 
were  more  grateful  than  I  can  say  for  the  absence  of  red  tape! 

A  PERFECTLY  beautiful  day !  We  had  a  delicious  luncheon 
2~\.  at  the  Restaurant  Santiago,  and  afterwards  Mr.  Wagner 
took  us  out  to  the  house  of  a  collector  to  see  his  things,  and  to 
buy  anything  if  we  saw  anything  we  wanted.  In  other  words,  he 
was  a  dealer.  But  such  a  funny  place!  The  man's  name  was 
Senor  Graz,  and  he  has  a  collection  indeed!  a  collection  of 
everything  under  the  sun,  from  rare  books,  furniture,  china, 
ornaments  and  just  plain  junk,  to  monkeys,  parrots,  dogs  and 
cats  which  are  all  housed  in  the  court  and  make  a  most  ungodly 
noise!  He  had  a  few  nice  things  but  nothing  we  wanted,  only 
it  was  interesting  to  know  that  it  was  possible  for  any  one  to 
gather  together  so  much  truck.  Senor  Graz  himself  was  very 
uncommunicative  and  seemed  indifferent  as  to  whether  any- 
thing were  bought  or  not.  Mr.  Wagner  said  that  he  had  an 
absolute  mania  for  collecting,  but  that  he  was  very  rich  indeed 
and  quite  independent  of  any  need  for  selling.  Somehow  I 
strongly  suspected  that  upstairs,  tucked  away,  he  probably  had 
some  really  good  things  that  would  be  worth  seeing  and  that 
the  mass  of  junk  we  saw  was  just  the  weeding  out  of  his  real 
collection. 

Next  we  drove  up  to  the  Santa  Lucia  Hill,  a  high  rocky  hill 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


in  the  very  centre  of  the  city,  which  has  been  made  into  a  park. 
The  road  winds  round  and  round  with  ivy-covered  walls  on  one 
side,  and  at  the  top  is  a  great  terrace  from  which  one  gets  a 
beautiful  panoramic  view  of  the  city  beneath.  An  insignificant 
admittance  fee  is  charged  which  goes  toward  the  upkeep  and 
which  seems  to  be  a  very  good  idea,  as  the  whole  park  is  as 
clean  and  neat  as  a  pin,  though  abominably  German  in  its 
landscape  garden  treatment!  Lots  of  quite  useless  balustrades 
and  summer  houses,  etc.,  but  nothing  can  spoil  the  beauty  of  the 
view  from  the  top.  They  have  an  out-of-door  moving-picture 
screen  and  a  restaurant,  which  are  crowded  every  night  in  good 
weather;  certainly  nothing  could  be  more  delightful  than  out-of- 
door  entertainments  on  such  nights  as  to-night.  I  wonder  if  the 
weather  is  often  like  this? 

From  Santa  Lucia  we  drove  to  the  Race  Track.  The  track  it- 
self is  all  beautifully  kept  turf,  the  gardens  are  a  mass  of  lovely 
flowers  and  the  grandstand  is  charmingly  decorated  with  win- 
dow-boxes all  in  bloom.  In  the  distance  high  mountains  loom 
up  on  every  side;  they  were  mostly  covered  with  snow  and  were 
all  pink-tinged  with  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun.  It  is  really  a 
very  beautiful  spot.  Many  of  the  horses  were  being  exercised 
and  they  were  splendid-looking  animals. 

We  all  met  at  the  American  Embassy  where  Mr.  Johnson  had 
invited  us  to  have  tea.  Mr.  Johnson  had  lunched  with  us  and 
also  Mrs.  Corbin  to  whom  we  had  been  given  letters.  The 
Embassy  is  quite  sumptuous,  situated  on  a  corner  of  the  Ala- 
meda.  There  were  some  fine  old  pieces  of  furniture  in  it,  but  we 
were  all  too  tired  to  be  very  enthusiastic  over  anything  but  a 
restful  cup  of  tea!  We  dined  well  but  not  very  wisely  at  the 
Santiago  Restaurant:  the  most  delicious  bors  d'oeuvres  made 
chiefly  of  small  alligator  pears,  and  afterward  lobster  such  as 
you've  never  tasted,  and /raises  de  bois  with  nice  thick  cream. 


Wednesday 
April  i  ^b 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


88 


Thursday 
April  20th 


WE  MADE  a  late  start  this  morning  and  tried  to  do  a  little 
shopping  but  rather  unsuccessfully  as  every  store  we 
went  into  was  more  anxious  to  close  for  the  noon  hour,  as  is 
their  custom,  than  to  sell  anything;  they  practically  pulled 
down  their  galvanized  iron  shutters  in  our  very  faces!  So,  in 
desperation,  we  got  into  Fords  and  went  up  to  Santa  Lucia  Park 
where  we  were  delighted  to  find  a  restaurant  open,  as  we  'd  been 
told  it  was  closed  for  the  season.  There  was  a  paved  court  with 
pepper  trees  around  it  and  a  nice  dripping  fountain  in  the  centre 
and  with  a  little  persuasion  we  had  a  table  brought  out  and 
lunched  there.  Certainly  our  experience  in  Santiago  as  to 
weather  was  an  agreeable  one.  It  was  delightfully  warm  and 
balmy  and  coolly  refreshing  at  the  same  time.  We  had  a  very 
nice  luncheon  and  everybody  enjoyed  eating  out-of-doors. 

Walter  made  us  climb  five  or  six  hundred  steps  cut  jaggedly 
out  of  rock,  to  the  top  of  the  hill  where  there  is  a  summer  house, 
and  from  which  the  view  of  the  surrounding  country  is  really 
magnificent.  Afterwards  we  did  a  little  more  shopping  and  then 
drove  again  out  to  the  Race  Course  and  through  the  Park, 
which  is  lovely,  but  which  appeared  to  be  deserted.  The  only 
sign  of  life  was  a  troop  of  soldiers  who  were  drilling  in  a  great 
open  space  that  looked  like  a  children 's  playground. 

We  dined  at  the  Santiago  Restaurant  again,  and  after  dinner 
every  one  went  to  the  Embassy,  and  later  to  meet  Jack  who 
returned  at  midnight  from  Braden. 


Friday  ^  I  ^O-DAY  after  luncheon  we  drove  all  over  the  city.  The 
April 2i"  J_  most  interesting  thing  I've  seen  in  years  was  the  Good 
Friday  religious  pageant  that  took  place  in  the  streets.  We 
drove  down  one  of  the  cross  streets,  where  we  had  an  excellent 
near  view  both  of  the  procession  and  of  the  people.  There  was 
a  succession  of  enormous  floats  made  to  represent  great  boulders 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


with  figures  of  Christ,  the  Virgin  Mary  and  many  of  the  Saints 
grouped  against  them.  They  were  carried  on  the  shoulders  of 
fifteen  or  twenty  men  who  staggered  under  the  weight.  Each 
float  was  followed  by  a  long  procession  of  men  and  boys  carry- 
ing lighted  candles.  The  crowd  stood  around  in  hushed  awe: 
the  women  all  in  black  with  thick  black  shawls  over  their  heads 
and  every  man  with  his  hat  in  his  hand  and  with  bowed  head. 
It  was  really  most  impressive,  such  religious  fervor  so  proudly 
displayed.  We  went  into  the  Cathedral  and  several  other 
churches,  with  services  going  on  everywhere  of  course  on 
account  of  its  being  Good  Friday.  The  churches  were  all 
crowded  with  men  and  women  kneeling  reverently  on  the  stone 
floors. 

We  drove  up  and  down  nearly  every  street  in  the  city,  and  saw 
lots  of  interesting  things,  but  were  disappointed  to  find  the 
Musee  des  Belles  Arts  closed.  At  half  past  six  we  went  to  the 
Embassy  for  supper,  which  Mr.  Johnson  and  Mr.  Summerland 
had  very  kindly  asked  us  to,  and  where  we  spent  a  most  enjoy- 
able hour  before  taking  our  train.  Every  one  was  sorry  to  leave 
Santiago. 

WHEN  we  awoke  this  morning  we  were  already  at  Santa 
Rosa  de  Los  Andes,  and  at  half  past  six  we  trooped  up 
to  the  hotel  about  a  half-block  from  the  station,  for  our  break- 
fast, and  then  got  into  another  narrow-gauged  train  for  our 
journey  over  the  Andes.  It  was  hardly  surprising  to  find  much 
of  the  way  was  a  cog  road  as  in  many  places  it  was  steep  enough 
for  a  funicular.  The  grandeur  of  the  mountains  is  impossible  for 
me  to  describe;  I  don't  know  how,  frankly,  to  give  even  any 
idea  of  it.  We  wound  around  through  them  and  along  the  Rio 
Blanco,  named  thus  because  its  course  is  so  steep  that  it  froths 
and  bubbles  all  the  way,  and  succeeds  in  being  a  river  of  foam. 


Friday 
April  2 1" 


Saturday 
April  22nd 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


90 


Saturday 
April  22nd 


Sunday 
April 23rd 


The  cable  is  laid  underground.  Every  now  and  then  a  little 
stone  house  stands  where  they  relay  the  mail  in  winter.  Last 
year  there  were  sixty  feet  of  snow  over  the  road  for  I  don't 
know  how  many  weeks!  Of  course  there  are  a  great  many  short 
tunnels  and  some  snowsheds,  but  surprisingly  few.  On  a  huge 
boulder  we  saw  painted  in  great  white  letters,  "The  Blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  Cleanseth  All  From  Sin."  It  astonished,  horrified 
and  disappointed  me.  I  suppose  the  people  who  do  that  kind  of 
advertising  do  it  in  good  faith,  but  it  always  seems  sacrilegious 
and  I  didn't  look  for  it  in  this  wonderful  country.  I  immediately 
looked  about  for  a  "Can't  Bust  'em"  overall  or  a  "Budweiser 
Beer"  sign,  but  these  people  were  seemingly  more  appreciative 
and  more  discriminating.  I  would  much  rather  believe  the  lat- 
ter than  to  believe  that  they  were  too  thrifty  to  place  a  sign 
where  the  returns  wouldn't  justify  the  expense  of  setting  it  up! 
During  the  day  we  saw  at  least  half  a  dozen  such  verses  from 
Scripture,  in  German,  in  Spanish,  English,  French,  etc.  When  we 
got  to  Puenta  del  Inca  we  all  got  out  of  the  train  to  see  the 
natural  bridge  with  the  river  flowing  under  it.  There  is  quite  a 
big  establishment  of  sulphur  baths  here. 

A  kind  of  foggy  mist  covered  the  very  tops  of  the  peaks  so  we 
were  only  able  to  get  a  dreamy  imaginative  kind  of  glimpse  of 
Aconcagua.  I  liked  it  that  way.  In  fact  every  moment  of  the 
day  was  one  full  of  pleasure. 

At  eight  o  'clock  we  arrived  at  Mendoza  and  got  on  the  third 
and  last  train.  The  accommodations  were  excellent — very  com- 
fortable compartments  and  a  dining-car  as  good  as  any  to  be 
found. 

EST  night  was  the  dustiest  and  dirtiest  bit  of  road  I've 
ever  travelled  over,  but  it  rained  in  the  early  morning  and 
the  rest  of  the  way  was  delightful.  From  the  time  we  awoke 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


91 


until  our  arrival  in  Buenos  Aires  at  a  quarter  to  four  we 
travelled  through  country  as  flat  as  flat  can  be  for  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach:  rich  farm  lands,  always  dotted  with  cattle; 
everything  looking  tremendously  prosperous.  That  trip  is  really 
a  fitting  introduction  to  the  immense  wealth  of  the  country. 

We  came  direct  to  the  Plaza  Hotel  which  is  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Ritz  Hotel  companies.  It  is  quite  close  to  the  station, 
and  is  beautifully  situated  opposite  a  large  park  filled  with 
trees  and  flowers.  We  had  all  dreamed  of  Buenos  Aires,  and 
could  hardly  wait  to  see  it,  but  nothing  could  be  enjoyed  after 
our  dirty  railroad  trip  until  we  had  had  a  lengthy  visit  from 
the  hairdresser  and  the  manicure;  this  occupied  all  the  time 
until  dinner,  which  we  had  upstairs.  I  may  remark  that  to  have 
your  hair  washed  and  waved  and  your  nails  done  costs  the 
perfectly  unheard  of  sum  of  twelve  dollars  and  this  in  American 
dollars;  no  Guatemala  money  here! 

Mary,  Walter  and  the  Doctor  went  joy  riding  in  a  low-neck 
hack  but  the  rest  of  us  were  too  weary  to  do  anything  but  revel 
in  our  newly  and  expensively  acquired  cleanliness! 

WE  DROVE  all  over  the  city  to-day,  and  it  made  me  so 
homesick  for  Paris  that  I  wanted  to  weep!  It  began  with 
my  breakfast  this  morning,  when  they  brought  me  delicious 
cafe  au  /ait,  hot  crescents  and  fresh  butter  scraped  up  into  little 
shell  shapes!  The  waiter  on  our  floor  proved  to  be  an  old  friend, 
having  been  for  years  at  the  Palace  Hotel  in  San  Francisco;  he 
knew  us  and  all  of  our  friends  and  was  much  interested  to  hear 
what  had  become  of  the  people  he  had  been  accustomed  to 
serve.  He  was  really  a  great  comfort  as  he  had  lived  in  South 
America  long  enough  to  have  acquired  some  knowledge  of 
Spanish,  and  he  was  able  to  help  us  out  on  more  than  one 
occasion. 


Sunday 


Monday 
Apri 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Monday 
April  24th 


Tuesday 
April  25th 


I've  never  seen  such  irreproachably  kept  property:  streets 
that  are  positively  clean  enough  to  eat  off  of,  parks  where  not 
a  fallen  leaf  is  allowed  to  remain  on  the  ground;  beautiful  flowers 
and  trees  everywhere,  on  either  side  of  the  streets.  The  houses, 
the  shops,  even  to  the  very  selfsame  kiosks  where  the  papers  are 
sold,  and  many  other  such  things,  are  just  Paris,  absolutely 
Paris.  The  park  is  quite  like  the  Bois,  even  to  the  little  island  in 
the  centre  of  the  lake.  We  didn't  see  many  people  out  driving, 
as  it  was  obviously  too  early  for  that  in  a  country  where  every 
one  takes  siestas.  The  public  buildings  and  especially  the  resi- 
dences are  magnificent.  These  last  are  architecturally  very  like 
the  most  beautiful  private  houses  in  Paris;  many  of  them  have 
lovely  gardens,  though  I  don't  imagine  these  are  at  their  best, 
as  it  is  just  the  beginning  of  winter  here  now!  To  me  the  whole 
city  is  one  of  immeasurable  beauty. 

We  dined  in  the  hotel,  and  afterward  a  man  whom  Walter 
introduced  to  Virginia  as  Mr.  Iguana,  and  whose  real  name  was 
Mr.  Tiscornia,  took  us  all  out  to  the  Yacht  Club  and  afterward 
to  see  a  famous  Spanish  dancer. 

WE  STARTED  out  on  a  shopping  expedition  this  morning 
in  the  Florida,  the  Rue  de  la  Paix  of  Buenos  Aires.  The 
shops  were  delightful,  full  of  beautiful  things  but  prohibitively 
expensive.  I've  never  seen  handsomer  jewels  anywhere;  how- 
ever, the  jewels  and  the  objets  d' art  and  everything  else  could 
only  be  had  for  exorbitant  sums,  so  we  spent  a  great  deal  of 
time  but  very  little  money!  The  shop-keepers  were  most  amia- 
ble and  quite  willing  to  show  their  wares  even  though  we  didn't 
show  much  sign  of  buying  them;  in  fact  we  spent  most  of  the 
time  abusing  ourselves  and  each  other  for  not  having  bought 
lots  of  things  we  had  seen  in  Cuzco  and  Arequipa  which  are 
about  ten  times  more  expensive  here.  Virginia  and  Jack  were 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


looking  at  a  silver  box  in  an  Antique  shop  in  the  Florida,  and 
asked  the  man  if  he  had  any  larger  ones.  He  shook  his  head  but 
proceeded  to  tell  them  that  he  knew  where  he  could  procure  a 
wonderful  old  silver  trunk  which  he  himself  had  bought  from 
a  monk  and  had  since  sold  to  a  dealer  in  Santiago.  He  brought 
out  two  photographs  of  it  and  it  proved  to  be  the  identical  box 
Jack  himself  had  bought  in  Santiago!  Of  course  the  dealer  was 
tremendously  interested  when  he  heard  that  the  box  was  in 
Jack's  possession  and  proceeded  to  tell  him  how  valuable  it 
was  and  how  lucky  he  was  to  have  found  it. 

They  do  not  allow  any  carriages  or  motors  to  drive  through 
the  Florida  between  the  hours  of  five  and  seven,  and  almost  the 
entire  population  of  Buenos  Aires  walks  up  and  down  the 
middle  of  the  street  looking  into  the  shop  windows  and  princi- 
pally eyeing  each  other!  Why  they  choose  this  narrow  street 
for  their  promenade  I  can't  imagine  when  they  have  so  many 
beautiful  parks.  Walter  and  Doctor  Allen  wouldn't  miss  it  for 
worlds ! 

We  dined  at  the  Plaza  and  went  afterward  to  an  Italian  Opera 
with  Senor  "Iguana."  The  music  was  very  pretty  and  it  was 
quite  enjoyable  on  the  whole,  but  a  pressing  engagement  made 
it  impossible  for  us  to  remain  for  more  than  two  acts!  Walter 
and  Mary  gave  a  Tango  Exhibition  in  the  tea  room  of  the 
Plaza  with  supper  afterward.  Mr.  Tango,  a  funny  squareish 
little  fat  man,  wore  with  his  Tuxedo,  a  decollete  shirt  with  a 
Rah-Rah  "Sport"  turned-over  soft  collar,  which  caused  some 
amusement  in  the  party.  Miss  Tango  was  rather  a  pretty  but 
very  buxom  lass,  dressed  all  in  black  silk  and  lace  with  which 
she  wore  high  black  walking  shoes!  They  danced  very  well 
together  in  spite  of  the  peculiarities  of  their  costumes,  but  not 
so  well  as  when  "Clarence  Tango"  danced  with  either  Virginia 
or  Mary.  I  was  fearful  for  awhile,  lest  the  lady  should  "draw 


Tuesday 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Tuesday 
Apri 


Wednesday 
April 26th 


from  her  garter  a  dear  little  dagger"  in  jealous  rage  when 
Clarence  left  her  holding  up  the  wall,  and  danced  with  the  beau- 
tiful strangers,  but  her  eyes  only  flashed  and  she  pouted;  that 
was  all!  After  supper  Mr.  Iguana  took  us  to  "La  Prensa" 
Building  and  we  went  over  it  from  garret  to  cellar,  which  was 
extraordinarily  interesting,  particularly  as  it  was  about  two 
a.m.  and  the  paper  was  literally  in  the  throes  of  publication. 
As  an  institution  and  an  organization  it  is  most  remarkable. 
There  is  a  philanthropic  side — doubtless  an  excellent  advertise- 
ment but  certainly  a  very  humane  way  of  advertising — that  is 
unquestionably  a  splendid  thing  for  the  poor.  The  paper  em- 
ploys the  best  Physician,  Lawyer,  Music  Master,  etc.,  that  it  is 
able  to  procure,  whose  services  are  absolutely  free  to  the  poor, 
for  that  matter  to  any  one  desiring  them.  These  men  all  have 
offices  in  the  building, — which  is  immense — and  besides  there 
are  banquet  halls,  recreation  rooms,  a  gymnasium  and  a  library; 
every  year  prizes  are  distributed  to  the  persons  teaching  the 
greatest  number  of  men  and  women  over  a  certain  age,  to  read 
and  write  in  Spanish.  How  much  more  intelligent — entirely 
aside  from  any  advantage  the  Prensa  may  glean  from  it — is  this 
method  of  advertising,  as  opposed  to  that  of  giving  prizes  for 
the  person  who  guesses  some  idiotic  puzzle. 

Every  possible  advantage  is  given  to  the  man,  woman  or  child 
who  cannot  afford  to  pay.  Most  assuredly  they  subscribe  to  the 
paper,  but  it  seems  to  me  to  be  a  very  fair  cooperative  scheme, 
indeed  an  admirable  one. 

WE  SPENT  the  entire  morning  at  the  Zoological  Gardens 
where  they  have  a  very  fine  collection  of  animals  in  a 
beautifully  kept  park.  There  is  a  turtle  too  big  to  describe, 
though  if  I  could  depend  on  my  photographs  I  might  be  able  to 
prove  he  was  as  large  as  a  baby  elephant.  I  Ve  never  seen  any- 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


where  such  an  enormous  rhinoceros  and  hippopotamus.There  were 
wonderful  birds  too:  eagles,  condors  and  lots  of  others  whose 
names  I  don't  know,  and  a  kangaroo  ran  at  large  in  the  gardens 
amongst  the  peacocks  and  innumerable  other  uncaged  birds. 

After  luncheon  the  Aldaos  called  and  took  us  to  see  the  Opera 
House  which  is  very  magnificent.  Unfortunately  the  season  is 
not  yet  open,  so  we  were  unable  to  hear  any  opera,  but  the 
building  itself  is  well  worth  seeing.  The  parquet  is  built  so  that 
machinery  installed  beneath  it  lifts  the  floor  to  the  level  of  the 
stage  and  makes  it  possible  to  give  balls  of  state  there.  Then 
there  is  a  driveway  right  through  the  ground  floor  which  does 
away  with  the  horrible  necessity  of  standing  out  on  the  side- 
walk in  the  cold  or  rain  to  wait  for  your  carriage.  The  foyer  is 
very  elaborately  decorated;  perhaps  just  a  little  too  ornate,  but 
it  is  hard  to  judge  a  place  like  that  in  the  unaccustomed  day- 
light, peopled  with  half  a  dozen  tourists,  instead  of  seeing  it  in 
a  blaze  of  electric  light  and  peopled  with  beautifully  dressed 
women,  the  music,  the  jewels,  the  magnetism  of  crowds.  We 
drove  out  to  the  Golf  Club  for  tea.  It  is  a  sweet  little  club  house 
and  the  Golf  course  looked  very  inviting;  beautifully  kept  as  is 
everything  in  Buenos  Aires.  We  had  a  second  tea  with  the 
Count  and  Countess  Minotto  at  the  Plaza..  The  Aldaos  were 
there  also  and  one  or  two  other  people.  It  was  very  enjoyable. 

We  dined  at  the  Cafe  de  Paris  to-night—wild  duck  and  other 
good  things  and  we  owned  the  orchestra,  or  rather  Walter  did! 
He  finally  sent  for  the  conductor  and  asked  him  to  play  some 
American  ragtime,  and  the  next  thing  we  heard  were  strains  of 
"The  Last  Rose  of  Summer" !  Later  we  went  to  a  great  open-air 
court  where  we  saw  a  very  exciting  game  of  pelota  played  by 
some  extremely  skillful  professionals.  I  adored  it!  Walter  didn't 
find  it  very  interesting  on  this  particular  occasion!  "The  Last 
Rose  of  Summer"  had  made  him  homesick,  and  home  he  went! 


Wednesday 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Thursday  ,  A  •  AHIS  morning  we  went  shopping  with  the  Aldaos:  to 
A  Paquins,  Cheruits,  Jennys  and  Callots.  If  that  isn't 
enough  to  make  any  one  homesick  for  Paris!  As  it  is  just  the 
end  of  summer  here,  the  new  winter  clothes  haven't  yet  arrived 
from  Paris  so  no  one  could  find  anything  to  buy  but  lingerie 
and  babies'  clothes  which  were  all  very  fine  and  dainty — just 
like  Paris  things.  We  lunched  at  the  Race  Track.  It  is  too  lovely 
for  words.  Beautiful  buildings  and  gardens,  so  gay  and  festive 
with  its  gravelled  terraces  and  coquettishly  awninged  benches 
and  brilliantly  colored  canvas  parasols.  The  whole  place  was  a 
mass  of  flowers  and  had  an  air  of  prosperity  which  seemed 
unusually  apropos!  We  did  a  little  betting  but  of  course  didn't 
know  anything  much  about  the  horses,  so  after  we'd  lost  a 
little  and  won  a  little  we  left,  to  do  more  sightseeing.  We  went 
to  the  Museum  which  is  installed  in  what  was  the  Argentine 
Building  at  the  Paris  Exposition.  I  really  can't  imagine  why 
they  didn't  leave  it  in  France  unless  Paris  refused,  which  is 
more  than  likely,  as  it  is  an  eyesore.  Just  at  present  they  are 
engaged  in  painting  it  every  color  of  the  rainbow.  It  is  the  only 
hideous  thing  I've  seen  since  we  arrived  here.  It  contains  an 
original  Rodin,  two  Corots,  and  quite  an  interesting  series  of 
panels  representing  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  done  on  canvas 
and  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl  dated  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
There  are  a  few  other  good  paintings  too  and  a  lot  of  copies  of 
famous  statuary,  but  nothing  of  extraordinary  interest.  Later 
we  tried  to  get  into  the  Cathedral,  but  it  was  closed,  which  it 
seems  always  to  be  for  some  unknown  reason;  we  have  tried 
any  number  of  times  to  visit  it  but  invariably  without  success. 
Judge  Babbitt  gave  a  very  elaborate  dinner  at  the  Jockey 
Club  this  evening;  I  Ve  never  seen  such  a  lovely  fragrant  mass 
of  pink  garden  roses  as  were  on  the  table!  We  had  the  most 
delicious  dinner  imaginable — in  fact  as  one  might  know  would 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


be  the  case  with  anything  Judge  Babbitt  undertook,  it  was 
perfect  in  every  detail  and  we  all  had  a  particularly  nice  time. 

WE  WENT  out  with  Mrs.  Eidelberg  to  see  the  Rawson 
Hospital  this  morning.  The  Chauffeur  apparently  had 
not  understood  the  order  as  he  took  us  miles  off  to  a 
suburb  in  the  opposite  direction  but  we  didn't  care  as  it  was 
interesting  to  see  another  part  of  the  city.  When  we  finally  did 
reach  the  Hospital  it  was  quite  late  but  every  inch  of  it  was 
visited.  I  sat  on  a  bench  in  the  hall-way  most  of  the  time,  as 
there  is  just  nothing  in  the  world  I  can  think  of  that  is  so  repel- 
lent and  depressing  as  to  walk  into  wards  of  sick  and  suffering 
people  and  have  a  doctor  casually  point  to  one  after  another  of 
the  patients  and  callously  announce  what  is  the  matter  with 
them.  The  hospital  buildings  are  very  modern  and  scrupulously 
clean,  situated  in  a  lovely  garden.  Mrs.  Eidelberg  had  luncheon 
with  us  at  the  Plaza  and  afterward  took  us  to  see  the  Paz-de- 
Ganza  house,  which  she  had  succeeded  in  getting  permission 
for  us  to  visit.  It  is  without  doubt  one  of  the  most  exquisitely 
furnished  houses  I  have  ever  seen  in  my  life:  full  of  priceless 
things,  but  not  the  least  bit  formal  or  stiff;  on  the  contrary, 
exceedingly  homelike  and  livable.  Nearly  everything  in  it  is 
French.  The  tapestry  furniture  in  the  drawing-room,  the  rugs, 
the  carved  jade  bowl,  the  porcelains  and  old  silver  in  the  din- 
ing-room were  only  a  few  of  the  treasures.  A  cousin  of  Madame 
de  Ganza  was  going  to  be  married  there  that  afternoon  and  in 
the  drawing-room  they  were  making  preparations  for  the 
ceremony.  A  huge  chou  of  white  tulle  was  pinned  up  on  the 
wall  over  a  kind  of  console  and  great  filmy  yards  of  it  swept  to 
the  floor.  This  may  sound  grotesque  but  I  can  assure  you  it  was 
lovely.  Besides,  it  would  have  been  almost  impossible  to  put 
anything  in  that  room  and  have  it  look  otherwise.  Two  large 


97 


Thursday 
April  2Jtb 


Friday 
April 28* 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Friday 
April  28* 


Saturday 
April  2^ 


baskets  of  flowers  were  on  the  floor,  but  that  was  as  far  as  the 
decorating  had  gone.  The  petit  salon  upstairs  and  the  bedrooms 
were  charming, — exquisite  curtains  and  bedspreads — from 
Stevens  in  Paris  I  am  sure,  all  too  French  and  dainty  for  words. 
The  house  is  one  of  three  built  into  one  enormous  mansion, 
so  to  speak,  and  each  one  opens  into  a  great  round  centre  hall 
of  marble.  Then  there  is  a  very  large  drawing-room,  just  being 
done  over,  and  a  banquet  hall,  which  are  used  when  the  three 
families  congregate.  The  carved  woodwork  and  the  furniture  in 
the  banquet  hall  had  been  ordered  in  Italy  twenty  years  ago 
by  the  father  of  the  present  owner  and  had  only  just  arrived; 
they  were  installing  it:  magnificent  work — doors  that  went  up 
to  the  ceiling,  with  silver  locks  and  handles,  very  ornate  but 
entirely  in  keeping  with  the  grandeur  of  the  rest  of  the  apart- 
ment. This  room  opened  on  a  balustraded  terrace  overlooking 
the  garden,  which  was  entirely  shut  in  from  the  street  by  two  of 
the  houses.  Miss  Harding,  a  very  nice  English  woman,  who 
appeared  to  be  a  sort  of  companion,  showed  us  over  the  house. 
It  was  all  so  lived-in,  that  it  was  almost  embarrassing  to  go 
over  it;  there  was  even  a  nice  big  dog  roaming  comfortably 
about  the  hall! 

Later  we  took  carriages  and  went  down  to  the  pawn-shops  by 
the  water-front,  but  couldn't  find  a  single  thing  to  buy,  so  we 
walked  slowly  back  to  the  hotel,  where  we  got  a  motor  and 
drove  out  along  the  Avenue  Alvear  and  left  cards  on  the  Aldaos, 
Senior  and  Junior.  To-night  we  dined  downstairs  in  the  Caf£  of 
the  hotel  and  remained  at  home— that  is,  all  of  us  except  Walter 
and  the  Doc,  who  made  a  "tour  of  the  town"  accompanied  by 
Senor  Smith,  who,  we  are  told, "knows  his  Buenos  Aires!!!" 


w 


IE  LUNCHED  to-day  with  Dr.  Aldao  and  his  family  at 
their  house  and  had  an  extremely  nice  time.  Mrs.  Aldao, 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


who  is  an  invalid,  didn't  appear  until  after  luncheon,  so  there 
were  just  their  two  daughters,  their  son  and  daughter-in-law  and 
the  Mayor,  whose  name  has  escaped  me  though  I  sat  next  to  him, 
and  found  him  very  agreeable.  They  were  all  so  delightfully 
hospitable  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  feel  otherwise 
than  happy  amongst  them.  After  luncheon  we  motored  out  to 
see  an  estancia,  which  took  about  an  hour  and  a  half  over  rather 
a  jolty  road.  The  park  was  lovely:  beautiful  trees,  particularly 
the  bamboo.  Wherever  there  was  a  sheltered  spot  a  little  shrine 
was  to  be  seen  showing  the  evidences  of  their  religious  devo- 
tion which  we  were  told  is  very  extraordinary.  We  then  went 
down  to  the  stables  where  they  dragged  a  lot  of  valuable  cattle 
out  of  their  stalls  by  a  ring  through  their  nose,  for  our  inspec- 
tion. Every  beast  had  a  groom,  and  undoubtedly  there  must 
have  been  a  reward  for  the  youth  who  kept  his  charge  in  the 
best  condition  though  it  was  impossible  to  pick  a  choice,  but 
the  boys  looked  with  a  critical  eye  from  one  to  the  other,  some- 
times with  satisfaction  and  sometimes  with  dismay.  One  of  the 
young  sons  of  the  house  came  racing  down  to  the  stables  in  a 
motor  to  ask  us  to  return  with  him  for  tea,  which  we  did.  The 
family  was  in  deepest  mourning — they  nearly  always  are — and 
two  sad-faced  old  maids  presided  at  a  table  long  enough  to  seat 
thirty  or  forty  people,  in  a  great  dark,  gloomy  dining-room. 
Every  piece  of  furniture  was  covered  with  silver  and  bronze 
trophies,  won  in  the  cattle  exhibits,  and  the  walls  were  hung 
with  plaques  and  medals.  Of  course  we  were  most  appreciative 
of  their  hospitality  and  all  that,  but  it  was  a  trying  kind  of  tea 
party,  as  the  two  daughters  spoke  no  English  and  the  young 
sons  who  did  were  rather  too  shy  to  say  much.  Then  there 
were  four  or  five  Englishmen  who  had  obviously  come  as  we 
had,  to  see  the  place  and  the  cattle,  and  who  grouped  them- 
selves on  the  other  side  of  the  table  and  didn't  speak  at  all. 


Saturday 
April  29^ 


IOO 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Saturday 
April 2  pth 


Sunday 
April 


Monday 
May  i^ 


I  rather  fancied  they  hoped  we  would  think  they  were  Argen- 
tines and  could  only  speak  Spanish  so  that  they  would  not  have 
to  bore  themselves  by  making  conversation  with  "merely 
Americans."  However  it  was  soon  over  and  when  some  one 
suggested  going  to  see  the  swimming-pool,  every  one  welcomed 
the  interruption.  The  pool  was  an  unusually  nice  one  and  I  was 
sorry  it  was  too  late  to  do  more  than  look  at  it.  There  is  abso- 
lutely no  twilight  here  at  all  and  our  journey  back  to  town  was 
in  the  pitch  dark.  We  dined  upstairs  in  true  Argentine  fashion 
at  about  ten  o'clock! 

SUNDAY  to-day,  and  a  rather  lazy  one.  We  lunched  at  a 
restaurant  called  The  Sportsman  and  then  took  hacks  and 
drove  up  and  down  the  water-front.  We  were  all  much  inter- 
ested in  a  suspension  bridge,  which  is  moved  across  the  river  by 
a  kind  of  trolley.  I  suppose  a  suspension  bridge  is  the  last  thing 
in  the  world  to  call  it,  and  if  "Cappie"  should  ever  read  these 
words  he  will  properly  admonish  me  for  my  ignorance,  but  I  've 
never  seen  such  a  thing  before  and  haven't  the  remotest  idea 
what  name  to  give  it.  It  was  rather  fascinating  to  watch, 
because  it  worked  so  smoothly.  Later  we  tried  once  again  to 
see  the  Cathedral,  but  still  without  success.  It  annoys  me 
because  it  upsets  all  my  previous  statements  of  Catholic 
churches  being  always  open  to  the  wanderer.  Apparently  I  am 
wrong  once  again!  We  came  back  to  the  Plaza  and  played 
Bridge  and  dined  upstairs,  which  is  our  favorite  thing  to  do,  and 
dined  late,  about  half  past  nine  or  so,  which  is  also  a  favorite 
thing  to  do,  and  I  think  the  only  sensible  hour! 


Cyprus  arrived  this  morning  from  her  perilous  journey 
through  The  Straits,  which  was  secretly  a  great  relief  to 
everybody's  mind,  as  we  had  begun  to  wonder  just  where  she 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


was.  We  went  down  to  the  dock  this  afternoon  and  were  assured 
by  Tom,  one  of  the  stewards,  that  we  hadn't  exactly  missed 
any  good  weather  by  not  making  the  journey  with  her,  but 
aside  from  that,  they  had  had  a  marvelous  trip.  Of  course 
nobody  would  admit  that  there  was  anything  to  speak  of  in  the 
way  of  weather — they  never  do  on  shipboard!  Just  a  big  sea  one 
night  and  they  were  running  fairly  fast  and  a  pretty  high  wave 
struck  her,  but  it  was  all  quite  insignificant  really,  though  the 
railing  on  the  bridge  was  smashed,  and  we  were  reluctantly 
shown  where  some  beams  were  very  decidedly  bent! 

We  made  our  daily  "shop  to  shop"  expedition  in  the  Florida, 
examining  and  pricing  things  everywhere  and  then  sailing 
majestically  out  without  buying  anything,  with  an  air  of  "  noth- 
ing is  good  enough  for  us!"  simply  because  the  prices  were 
above  and  beyond  anything  reasonable,  but  the  climax  was 
reached  when  Walter  went  into  a  pharmacy  and  asked  for  some 
listerine.  After  the  clerk  had  brought  out  every  size  and  shaped 
bottle  imaginable,  Walter  from  force  of  habit  just  said  no,  they 
wouldn't  do  at  all,  and  we  all  marched  out  into  the  street! 

MARY,  Virginia,  Walter  and  I  walked  up  the  Avenida  del 
Mayo  and  back  to  the  Hotel  through  the  by-streets  in 
hopes  of  finding  a  shop  with  something  in  it,  valued  at  less  than 
pearls,  but  with  no  success.  All  the  shops  which  have  in  them 
anything  you  might  possibly  want  are  in  the  Florida  and  their 
wares  might  just  as  well  have  been  locked  up  in  vaults  as  far 
as  most  of  us  were  concerned.  The  scale  of  prices  seems  quite 
ridiculous.  We  pay  four  dollars  to  have  our  hair  shampooed 
and  four  dollars  to  have  our  nails  manicured;  five  dollars  to 
launder  a  plain  linen  dress  without  a  plait  or  a  frill  on  it. 

This  afternoon  we  visited  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  the 
Senate,  the  Library,  in  fact  all  of  the  Capitol  we  were  permitted 


Monday 
May  jst 


Tuesday 
May  2nd 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Tuesday  to  see.  It  is  very  handsome  and  impressive,  both  inside  and  out, 
y  2n  and  well  worth  seeing.  We  also  went  to  a  house  where  there  was 
an  excellent  collection  of  old  furniture  and  other  antiques  for 
sale — a  branch  of  a  shop  in  Florence— but  the  man  dealt  exclu- 
sively in  European  things,  which,  though  very  beautiful,  no  one 
was  tempted  to  buy  in  South  America. 

Later  we  went  back  to  the  Cyprus  to  find  that  already  every- 
thing had  been  put  in  perfect  order  and  she  looked  her  charming 
self.  We  were  actually  so  homesick  that  we  wanted  to  remain, 
and  only  went  back  to  the  Plaza  with  the  greatest  reluctance. 
The  solitary  little  goldfish,  Chan,  was  paddling  around  in  his 
green  bowl  on  the  table  in  the  music  room,  and  there  were 
flowers  everywhere. 

Wednesday  \  FTER  luncheon  we  gathered  together  our  goods  and  chat- 
Mayy  j-^  tejs  an(j  came  on  board  anc[  it;  seemed  like  home  again,  and 
a  happy  home-coming  too.  Virginia  had  invited  all  the  people 
we'd  met  and  who  had  been  so  nice  to  us  in  Buenos  Aires  to  tea. 
We  arrayed  ourselves  in  lingerie  dresses  and  "picture  hats," 
duchesses  indeed!  All  the  Aldao  family,  the  Marchesi  and  the 
Marchesa  de  Salamanca,  Count  and  Countess  Minotto,  Mr. 
Quintana,  Mr.  Tiscornia  and  his  fiancee  and  a  lot  of  members 
of  the  Yacht  Club  who  couldn't  speak  a  word  of  English,  which 
was  rather  trying,  but  amusing  on  the  whole!  The  tea  party 
was  a  great  success  and  Virginia  was  showered  with  presents: 
baskets  of  flowers,  boxes  of  cakes,  Argentine  Tango  Victor 
records  and  even  two  goldfish  in  a  bowl,  sent  down  by  the 
proprietor  of  The  Plaza,  to  say  nothing  of  a  magnificently 
embroidered  sofa  cushion  presented  by  our  waiter,  one  time  of 
the  Palace  Hotel.  Every  one  was  tremendously  enthusiastic 
over  the  Cyprus,  needless  to  say.  Mr.  Quintana  stayed  for  dinner 
and  the  Minottos  are  going  with  us  as  far  as  Montevideo.  We 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


all  played  Bridge  and  danced  on  deck  and  had  a  gay  and 
delightful  evening.  We  sailed  a  little  after  eleven  to-night  and  I 
for  one  was  sorry  to  go. 

THIS  morning  we  arrived  in  Montevideo.  A  lovely  day;  we 
went  on  shore  at  eleven  or  thereabouts  and  were  met  by  a 
flock  of  reporters  who  photographed  us  half  a  dozen  times 
before  we  left  the  dock!  Mr.  Hayden,  who  had  arrived  yester- 
day, met  us  and  we  drove  in  motors  all  over  the  city  and  out  to 
Pocitos  where  there  is  a  big  hotel,  a  Casino  and  a  lot  of  villas. 
I  can 't  say  these  last  are  very  pretty,  as  they  are  mostly  deco- 
rated with  colored  tiles  and  hideous  art-nouveau  scrolls  of 
plaster  and  iron.  There  was  one  house  particularly,  with  a 
bright  blue  roof  and  blue  decorations  all  over  it,  which  was  too 
terrible!  Even  the  high  iron  grille  and  gates  were  painted  in  the 
same  brilliant  electric  blue.  They  are  too  dreadful  to  look  at, 
but  there  is  something  rather  ingenuous  and  childish  about  it 
all,  which  strikes  one  as  being  just  a  little  pathetic. 

We  lunched  at  the  Hotel  and  afterward  drove  out  to  see  the 
Penitentiary,  which  is  a  model  of  everything  that  is  clean  and 
sanitary.  The  prisoners  are  treated,  as  far  as  one  could  observe, 
in  a  manner  calculated  to  restore  their  self-respect  if  they  ever 
had  any  to  lose,  or  to  maintain  it  at  least.  Their  cells  are  large, 
light  and  scrupulously  clean  and  every  square  inch  of  the  place — 
it  is  huge — is  equally  so.  The  prisoners  are  made  to  work 
without  exception,  allowed  to  follow  whatever  trade  they  know, 
or  if  they  have  none,  are  taught  a  new  trade,  and  they  actually 
appear  to  be  interested  in  what  they  are  doing:  carpentering, 
tailoring,  mattress-making,  shoe-making,  brush-making,  etc. 
They  are  obliged  to  take  a  shower  bath  every  day,  and  on  the 
whole  look  more  like  a  lot  of  grown-up  school  boys  than  prisoners. 
No  one  is  sent  to  the  Penitentiary  for  less  than  two  years  or  for 


Wednesday 
May  jrd 


Thursday 
May  jib 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Thursday 
May  {Ik 


Friday 


Saturday 
May  6th 


more  than  forty.  We  saw  one  man  working  in  the  brush  factory 
who  'd  been  there  for  twenty  years,  or  rather  had  been  imprisoned 
that  long,  as  the  present  building  is  only  six  years  old,  and  he 
looked  as  hale  and  hearty  and  cheerful  as  any  one  you  could 
wish  to  see.  He  was  a  murderer.  Ordinarily,  a  prison  is  a  ter- 
ribly depressing  place,  but  I  am  obliged  to  admit  that  this 
one  seemed  almost  too  good  for  any  one  who  deserved  prison 
at  all. 

We  went  then  to  the  cable  office  where  Virginia  found  a  tele- 
gram saying  Marguerite  Moffitt  had  a  son,  born  yesterday. 
Every  one  was  equally  interested  and  pleased  at  such  good  news. 
At  five  o'clock  we  came  back  to  the  Cyprus;  the  Minottos  and 
the  Director  of  the  Prison,  who  was  most  anxious  to  see  the 
yacht,  returned  with  us  for  tea.  We  were  all  sorry  to  say  good- 
bye to  the  Minottos;  they  are  both  charming. 

At  half  past  six  we  were  once  more  on  our  way. 

THE  most  perfect  day  imaginable — a  smooth  blue  sea  and 
a  blue,  blue  sky  and  not  too  cool  and  not  too  warm.  It  has 
been  heavenly.  Very  early  this  morning  a  boat  came  up  quite  close 
to  us  and  asked  who  we  were.  We  told  her  and  she  darted  off 
again  without  returning  the  compliment.  Spark  said  he  thought 
she  was  an  English  Cruiser.  We  thought  for  a  moment  we  were 
going  to  have  an  adventure,  but  none  was  forthcoming! 

Everybody  revelled  all  day  in  the  luxury  and  delight  of  being 
once  again  settled  in  this  happy  little  home  which  we  all  adore! 

NOTHER  cool  day  and  another  blue  sea  and  blue  sky. 
Ve  were  in  sight  of  land  nearly  all  day  but  there  have 
been  no  adventures.  A  wonderfully  brilliant  sunset;  there  have 
been  so  many,  but  one  can  never  be  blase  about  them,  they  are 
really  extraordinary! 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


THIS  morning  early  we  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  Santos. 
A  more  beautiful  entrance  to  a  city  it  would  be  difficult  to 
imagine.  Unlike  the  west  coast  which  is  cold  and  gray  and  bleak 
and  without  much  vegetation,  in  fact  with  none  at  such  places 
as  Mollendo,  both  sides  of  the  banks  are  lined  with  a  tropical 
close  green  growth  of  palms,  ferns,  trees,  shrubs,  grass  and 
flowers.  What  is  called  Rio  Sao  Vicente  is  a  narrow  winding 
inlet  which  surrounds  the  island  of  the  same  name.  Most  pic- 
turesque are  the  houses  dotted  on  the  hillsides,  especially  one 
old  place  that  looked  like  a  small  fortress  with  two  great  stone 
terraces  and  a  tiny  round  tower  on  the  extreme  corner  of  each 
one.  At  Santos  we  got  directly  into  motors  and  went  to  the  rail- 
way station  where  arrangements  were  made  for  a  special  train 
to  take  us  to  Sao  Paulo,  and  while  we  were  waiting  for  that  to  be 
got  ready,  we  took  a  hurried  run  around  the  town.  As  it  was 
Sunday,  all  the  shops  were  closed  but  the  streets  were  filled  with 
people,  and  as  it  was  the  first  opportunity  I  Ve  had  of  observing 
the  Brazilians,  I  was  rather  glad  to  see  them  "en  masse"  so  to 
speak.  The  town  is  quite  picturesque — the  parks  and  squares 
all  abloom  with  bright-colored  flowers  and  such  green  greens  as 
only  grow  in  a  country  which  is  frequently  deluged  with  rain. 
Up  on  a  hill  above  the  city  were  a  hospital  and  several  schools, 
all  situated  in  the  midst  of  gardens,  with  stone  steps  and  ter- 
races leading  up  to  them. 

At  one  o'clock  we  took  the  train  for  Sao  Paulo.  I  believe  the 
railway  is  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  best  run  in  the  world.  The 
first  few  miles  wind  through  a  thick  tangled  jungle  of  green 
tree-ferns,  palms,  banana  trees  and  a  luxuriant  growth  of  climb- 
ing plants,  which  would  make  a  passage  way  of  even  a  few  yards 
into  the  'forest  quite  impossible.  There  are  wonderful  wild 
flowers,  particularly  a  shrub  covered  with  purplish  bloom,  and 
some  white  flowers  that  look  like  oleanders  except  that  they 


Sunday 
May  ftb 


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Sunday 
May  jtb 


grow  on  a  kind  of  lily  stem  in  the  marshes,  also  great  quantities 
of  orchids  and  innumerable  other  sorts  of  growing  things  that  I 
do  not  know  the  names  of. 

Soon  our  engine  was  shifted  around  to  the  back  of  the  train 
and  we  picked  up  a  cable  to  climb  the  steep  grade,  about  2000 
feet  in  six  miles  to  the  top  of  the  plateau.  On  one  side  of  the 
tracks  the  precipitous  wall  above  us  was  almost  solidly  lined 
with  rock  to  prevent  slides  and  to  take  care  of  the  drainage  from 
the  many  brooks  and  springs.  On  the  other  side  was  a  marvelous 
view  of  the  valley  below.  Unfortunately  it  was  raining  and 
rather  foggy  and  misty  as  well,  so  we  could  not  get  the  full 
benefit  of  it,  but  perhaps  interrupted  vistas  are  more  beautiful 
and  more  satisfying  in  the  end  than  a  great  panoramic  view  on 
a  clear  day;  in  any  event  I  couldn't  wish  for  anything  more 
lovely  than  our  trip  up  the  mountain,  for  it  was  nearly  a  moun- 
tain, to  Alto  da  Serra. 

We  arrived  in  Sao  Paulo  at  about  half  past  two  and  thought 
the  first  thing  we  would  do  would  be  to  motor  around  the  city. 
Some  of  us  were  mistaken  about  that!  The  entire  floor  of  the 
motor  Virginia  and  Mary  were  in  dropped  out  on  the  street! 
They  got  out  of  that  one  with  no  serious  damage  done  and  pro- 
ceeded to  get  into  another.  They  came  around  the  first  corner, 
and  smash!  bang!  a  collision!  Eventually  they  did  manage  to 
find  one  that  was  whole  and  driven  by  a  Chauffeur  who  knew 
his  business.  The  one  I  was  in  couldn't  go  at  all,  so  we  finally 
left  it,  and  when  the  Chauffeur  was  paid,  he  flew  into  a  terrific 
rage  and  refused  to  be  pacified.  He  followed  us  down  the  street 
shouting  at  Mr.  Tooker  and  Smith  and  finally  got  three  police- 
men who  said  they  would  take  Smith  to  the  Lock  Up  if  he 
didn't  pay  the  Chauffeur  what  he  demanded.  It  was  absurd,  as 
he  wanted  to  be  paid  for  several  hours  and  we  had  not  gone  a 
hundred  yards  in  his  motor,  but  eventually  he  was  paid  to  be 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


gotten  rid  of.  Our  entire  lack  of  any  knowledge  of  Portuguese 
left  us  powerless  to  dispute  him  or  to  explain  to  the  policemen. 

We  went  all  over  Sao  Paulo,  up  one  street  and  down  another. 
It  has  the  appearance  of  a  very  large  and  progressive  city.  Here 
too,  of  course,  the  shops  were  closed,  but  the  Sunday  crowd  was 
very  much  in  evidence  everywhere.  The  same  little  narrow 
streets  wind  through  the  business  section  of  the  city  as  we've 
seen  all  over  South  America  but  the  newer  part  of  Sao  Paulo  has 
very  wide  streets,  well  paved  and  clean,  with  trees  planted  on 
either  side.  The  architecture  is  a  nightmare:  decorations  in 
scrolls  and  art-nouveau  designs  tacked  on  everywhere,  and 
many  of  the  residences  have  oil  paintings  elaborately  framed  in 
wood  done  on  the  plastered  walls  of  the  porches.  They  are  just 
too  awful  to  describe  or  to  remember,  but  the  gardens  are 
lovely.  Bougainvillea  and  a  scarlet  vine  with  a  fuschia-like  flower 
prevail,  but  hibiscus  and  roses  and  zinnias  are  plentiful  and  any 
number  of  varieties  that  are  quite  foreign  to  me. 

There  wasn't  really  anything  particular  to  see  in  Sao  Paulo, 
so  after  we  had  driven  around  the  city,  we  started  back.  It  was 
only  about  half  past  five  but  it  was  already  quite  dark  so  that  it 
was  impossible  to  see  any  of  the  wonderful  scenery  on  our 
return,  which  we  would  all  have  liked  to  see  a  second  time. 

There  was  an  excellent  opportunity  coming  back  in  the  train 
to  view  eleven  friends  sound  asleep,  their  necks  twisted  in  the 
most  suicidal  positions !  One  wonders  how  it  is  possible  to  remain 
unconscious  of  such  horrible  discomfort,  while  wishing  one  had 
learnt  the  knack  of  sleeping  in  the  daytime  oneself! 

NOT  quite  so  smooth  this  morning   as  during   the   last 
three  days.  We  reached  Rio  de  Janeiro  at  three  o'clock, 
and  one  must   admit  cheerfully  that  no  one  has  ever  exag- 
gerated the  beauties  of  the  harbor  which  we  hear  so  much  about 


Sunday 
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Monday 
May  8tl> 


108 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


Monday 
May  8th 


all  our  lives.  It  is  magnificent!  The  bay  is  surrounded  by  high 
rugged  mountain  peaks  and  the  city  is  built  on  a  succession  of 
low  hills.  The  hills  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bay  are  covered 
with  a  thick  green  growth  of  trees  and  shrubs  and  vines.  We 
were  all  interested  in  seeing  the  peak  just  at  the  entrance  to  the 
bay  which  is  called  the  Sugar  Loaf.  There  is  a  cable  from  which 
hangs  a  little  cage,  stretching  over  to  another  rocky  summit. 
Tourists  make  this  perilous  journey  without  turning  a  hair  it 
seems,  but  it  didn't  appeal  to  any  of  us  though  we  watched  the 
cage  go  back  and  forth  with  great  interest;  it  looked  about  as 
big  as  a  bird  cage  from  the  yacht!  The  view  from  the  summit 
undoubtedly  must  be  magnificent  but  on  the  other  hand  I  don't 
see  how  anything  can  be  much  more  beautiful  than  just  the 
harbor  as  we  see  it  here  from  the  Cyprus. 

We  drove  around  the  city  which  spreads  over  an  immense 
area  of  ground  and  were  accompanied  by  a  Mr.  McGovern  who 
tried  to  tell  us  a  few  things  about  Rio.  Somehow  I  have  an  idea 
he  wasn't  particularly  successful  in  his  attempt,  though  no  one 
could  have  been  more  willing  and  agreeable.  We  went  first  out 
along  the  docks  and  to  the  Museum,  which  is  in  a  beautiful  park 
and  was  once  occupied  by  the  Emperor.  There  is  a  wonderful 
avenue  of  bamboo  where  the  trees  planted  on  either  side  meet 
overhead  and  every  variety  of  tropical  plant  and  tree.  Then  we 
drove  down  the  famous  Avenue  of  Royal  Palms  which  are  so 
tall  that  a  child  could  certainly  be  persuaded  to  believe  they 
reach  Heaven,  through  the  centre  of  the  city  and  out  along  a 
boulevard  which  skirts  the  bay  all  the  way.  Trees  are  planted  in 
the  middle,  with  a  drive-way  on  either  side.  However  I  would 
recommend  that  any  traveller  who  doesn't  want  to  be  disil- 
lusioned about  the  beauties  of  Rio,  look  constantly  out  toward 
the  bay,  or  else  over  the  hills,  for  the  architecture  of  Rio  is 
beyond  words — awful.  I  can 't  begin  to  describe  the  hideous  villas 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


along  the  ocean,  etc.,  but  the  natural  beauty  of  the  surroundings 
makes  the  rest  seem  so  insignificant,  that  it  doesn't  matter! 

We  returned  to  the  Cyprus  to  dress  and  went  back  on  shore  to 
dine  with  Mr.  Morgan,  the  American  Ambassador,  in  a  res- 
taurant under  the  Opera  House.  This  last  is  supposed 
to  almost  exactly  resemble  the  grand  opera  in  Paris.  The 
exterior  certainly  recalls  it  very  plainly,  but  we  did  not  go  inside, 
and  I  can't  believe  it  is  like  Paris,  not  after  having  seen  how 
they  decorate  their  buildings!  Amongst  our  dinner  party  were 
Mr.  Morgan,  Mr.  Ruder,  Mr.  McMillen,  Mr.  Benson  and  Mrs. 
Kinsolving,  and  before  dinner  was  over  Bishop  Kinsolving 
joined  us.  There  were  some  girls  who  danced  and  sang  rather 
indifferently,  but  towards  the  end  of  the  evening  some  one  spied 
a  dark-eyed  girl  sitting  at  a  table  with  an  octaroon  and  passed 
the  word  around  that  they  were  unusually  good  maxixe  dancers 
and  perhaps  could  be  persuaded  to  dance  for  us.  With  very  little 
urging  they  were  prevailed  upon  to  do  so.  It  was  a  bit  raw  I 
must  confess,  but  of  course  it  was  interesting  to  see  a  native 
dance  done  by  the  natives  themselves,  and  no  one  seemed  less 
shocked  or  for  that  matter  to  enjoy  it  more  than  the  Bishop! 
Mr.  Morgan  sent  them  over  a  bottle  of  champagne  with  the  compli- 
ments of  the  party,  and  with  that,  little  Miss  Maxixe  tears  off 
the  petals  of  the  roses  in  the  centre  of  her  table  and  showers 
them  on  Judge  Babbitt's  head  and  promptly  proceeds  to  dance 
an  encore! 

Every  one  was  up  betimes  this  morning  as  our  stay  here  is 
very  short.  We  took  the  most  beautiful  motor  drive  I've  ever 
seen  or  heard  of,  up  the  mountain  back  of  Rio  and  in  and  out 
and  through  and  around  it.  The  road  was  splendid  and  the 
views  perfectly  wonderful.  As  for  the  woods,  I  never  would 
have  believed  anything  like  them  existed.  The  most  marvelous 
green,  green  things!  Not  a  dry  leaf  or  twig  to  be  seen  anywhere! 


Monday 
May  8th 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 

I  IO 


Monday  It  was  more  like  a  kind  of  dream  picture  of  a  perfect  garden 
y 8t  than  anything  else.  Such  lovely  wildflowers  and  flowering 
shrubs!  It  was  difficult  to  realize  that  they  were  all  wild.  We 
stopped  at  a  little  clearing  on  one  of  the  hills  and  walked  over  a 
short  way  to  see  some  gigantic  rocks  just  tumbled  in  a  heap 
apparently,  but  so  colossal  in  size  that  one  could  only  wonder 
what  upheaval  of  nature  had  ever  landed  them  there.  It  looked 
as  though  even  an  earthquake  would  be  powerless  to  accomplish 
such  a  feat.  There  was  a  little  kiosk  near  by  in  which  an  old 
woman  sat,  selling  bananas;  they  were  not  more  than  four  or 
five  inches  long  but  the  most  delicious  I've  ever  eaten.  They 
were  called  "little  bananas  of  gold. "  I  shan't  divulge  the  num- 
ber Jack  and  I  ate  or  you  would  never  believe  that  we  had  lived 
to  tell  the  tale. 

We  finally  ended  our  drive  at  the  American  Embassy,  a  new 
building  out  on  the  boulevard  overlooking  the  water,  and  which 
is  most  attractive  in  every  way.  Mr.  McMillen  invited  us  to 
lunch  with  him  at  the  British  and  American  Club,  where  amongst 
other  good  things  we  had  the  most  delicious  shrimps  I  Ve  ever 
eaten  anywhere. 

Afterward  we  went  shopping  but  could  not  find  anything  we 
really  wanted,  which  was  most  disappointing.  We  saw  some  very 
fine  Brazilian  diamonds,  particularly  quantities  of  uncut  and 
unpolished  ones,  but  on  the  whole  the  shops  were  unattractive. 
When  it  comes  to  shopping,  Walter  in  some  miraculous  way 
seems  to  find  all  the  desirable  little  things  to  buy.  He  discovered 
collections  of  real  butterflies  to  take  home  to  the  children,  and 
artificial  flowers  made  entirely  of  feathers  which  look  infinitely 
more  natural  than  the  very  finest  French  ones,  excellent  photo- 
graphs and  various  kinds  of  little  souvenirs  we  had  all  searched 
the  city  for  unsuccessfully.  We  came  back  to  the  Cyprus  rather 
early,  as  Virginia  had  invited  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Kinsolving  to 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


tea.  This  evening  Mr.  Morgan  and  all  of  his  dinner  guests  of 
the  night  before  and  also  Mr.  Lanel  dined  with  us.  We  danced 
afterward  in  the  music  room  for  awhile,  but  it  was  too  warm  to 
be  enjoyable,  so  the  dancing  continued  on  deck. 

THIS  morning  we  went  to  the  Cathedral  and  to  a  little 
Chapel  built  beside  it,  both  of  which  were  very  interesting. 
There  were  some  lovely  candlesticks  and  vases  of  silver  on  the 
altar,  which  was  also  of  silver,  and  much  of  the  actual  Church 
decoration  was  very  beautiful.  Next  we  went  to  the  Market, 
which  is  very  large  and  extraordinarily  clean.  After  a  great  deal 
of  bargaining  Walter  bought  a  golden-colored  marmoset  for 
Virginia,  two  paroquets  for  Mrs.  Aldrich  and  four  "chinchilla" 
marmosets  to  take  home  to  his  children.  There  was  a  woolly 
gray  and  black  monkey  that  I  longed  for,  but  it  seemed  wholly 
unpracticable  for  me  to  accompany  him  all  the  way  to  Cali- 
fornia! When  these  important  purchases  were  concluded  we 
went  to  buy  Victor  records  of  the  latest  popular  air  called  "Meu 
Boi  Morreu,"  which  means  "my  ox  is  dead,"  and  is  synonymous 
with  "I'm  hard  up"  or  rather  "broke"!  The  idea  is  obvious, 
but  then  everything  I've  written  so  far  has  been  obvious,  so 
why  should  I  hesitate  to  give  the  meaning  at  this  late  date? 
After  everything  discouraging  that  can  happen,  has  happened 
to  the  poor  farmer,  his  last  means  of  existence  is  his  ox  which 
ploughs  the  ground  and  hauls  his  harvest  to  the  town,  but  when 
his  ox  dies,  he  gives  up! 

We  ran  across  Mr.  McGovern,  and  Jack  asked  him  to  bring 
his  daughters  out,  as  they  were  very  anxious  to  see  the  Cyprus. 
As  we  left  the  dock  all  the  charming  people  we  had  met  in  Rio 
were  on  the  quay  to  say  good-bye  with  flowers  for  Virginia. 
We  sailed  right  after  luncheon,  which  means  about  three  o  'clock. 
It  is  just  as  beautiful  sailing  out  of  the  Harbor  as  sailing  in.  Of 


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Wednesday 
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Thursday 
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Friday 
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Saturday 
May  i^tb 


course  you  hate  to  leave  it  all  behind  you,  but  somehow  it 
makes  a  peculiarly  definite  impression  on  your  mind  —  I  think 
almost  more  definite  than  any  place  I  have  ever  seen  in  my 
life.  It  seems  to  say:  you  will  probably  never  come  here  again 
and  as  long  as  you  appreciate  it  so  much  you  may  take  it  with 
you.  It's  strange. 

It  was  decidedly  rough  crossing  the  bar  but  we  were  too 
diverted  by  the  saluting  of  the  Fort,  the  British  patrol  vessel 
and  the  battleships  to  say  nothing  of  the  beauty  of  the  harbor, 
to  think  about  minding  anything  so  commonplace  as  a  little 
pitching!  But  the  pitching  continued  on,  long  after  we  had  left 
the  bar  way  behind,  and  I  went  to  a  Stag  dinner  party  to-night! 

OUITE  rough  all  day.  No  adventures:  Most  of  the  day  was 
spent  in  playing  with  the  live  stock  and  finding  comfort- 
able corners  for  their  cages,  etc.  Virginia  has  named  her  marmo- 
set Rio.  He  is  very  tame  and  affectionate  and  we  are  all  crazy 
about  him! 

THE  tiniest  marmoset  died  to-day  —  certainly  not  for  want 
of  care!  I  think  the  poor  little  creature  died  of  sea  sick- 
ness as  it  has  been  rather  rough  ever  since  we  left  Rio  Janeiro. 
Walter  did  everything  he  could  think  of  to  keep  it  alive,  and 
the  Doctor  was  frequently  appealed  to.  Walter  held  it  in  his 
lap  most  of  the  afternoon  so  that  the  sun  would  shine  on  its 
poor  little  frail  rack  of  bones  but  it  was  destined  to  die  without 
a  doubt.  Rio,  the  golden-haired,  is  as  lively  as  a  cricket  and 
twice  as  friendly. 
Stag  parties  continue  for  luncheon  and  dinner! 


JQ  created  all  the  diversion  and  excitement  and  anxiety 
any  one  might  wish  for  to-day  !  He  terrified  us,  one  and  all, 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


by  scampering  along  the  edge  of  the  railing  and  finally  disap- 
pearing through  the  deck  drain  at  the  stern  of  the  yacht.  We 
were  afraid  to  even  go  and  look  over  the  railing  for  fear  he 
would  take  a  frightened  leap  into  the  sea.  Finally  Jack  screwed 
up  his  courage  and  discovered  that  he  was  clinging  to  the  top 
of  a  slippery  screw-head  from  which  dangerous  spot,  right  over 
the  water,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  move  one  way  or  the 
other.  He  was  rescued,  of  course,  but  a  more  terrified  little 
animal  never  drew  the  breath  of  life.  At  that,  I  don't  think  he 
was  more  frightened  than  we!  He  is  back  in  his  cage  and  there, 
it  is  planned,  he  will  remain  until  we  are  on  dry  land.  It  has  rained 
on  and  off  all  day  and  I  am  forced  to  admit  the  weather  is 
abominable  —  warm,  heavy,  sticky,  wet,  gray,  gloomy  and  rough. 


E?E  wasn't  worth  living  with  poor  little  Rio  in  his  cage,  so 
to-day  he  was  allowed  his  liberty.  He  was  up  to  suicidal 
pranks,  running  up  the  ropes  which  lash  the  life-boats,  and 
getting  into  one  of  these,  under  the  canvas  where  he  couldn  't 
be  seen  at  all,  or  balancing  on  the  outer  edge  to  everybody's 
consternation!  Finally  getting  bored  at  not  being  noticed  (no 
one  dared  approach,  for  fear  he'd  take  a  flying  leap  into  the 
sea)  he  started  down  the  ropes  again  with  nothing  between  him 
and  the  ocean.  The  boat  gave  a  sudden  lurch  and  off  he  fell, 
but  it  so  happened  that  at  this  moment  he  was  just  over  a  por- 
tion of  the  gangway  and  he  fell  on  the  edge  of  the  steps  from 
which  he  scrambled  up  and  flew  down  the  deck  in  a  perfect 
ecstasy  of  joy  and  excitement.  Soon,  very  soon,  Tom  appeared 
and  announced  that  he  had  run  down  into  the  engine  room  and 
was  crouching  behind  the  boilers  where  he  could  only  live  at 
the  most  a  few  minutes,  as  the  heat  of  course  is  indescribable. 
Lampa,  one  of  the  crew,  a  pink-cheeked,  blue-eyed  boy  who  has 
been  nurse  to  the  live  stock  ever  since  they  were  brought  on 


Saturday 
May  ijtb 


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on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Sunday 
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Monday 
May  ijtb 


board,  made  a  perilous  trip  in  search  of  him  and  finally  came 
up  on  deck  panting  for  breath,  holding  Rio  firmly  by  the  tail, 
with  an  expression  of  "Into  the  jaws  of  Hell  I've  been,  but  I 
have  him,  by  Golly,  I  have  him" !  The  miserable  little  sinner  was 
returned  to  his  cage  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage,  so  'twas  said, 
but  ten  minutes  later  Walter  was  putting  a  tin  of  fresh  water 
into  his  cage  when  out  he  flew,  this  time  down  the  stairs  and 
into  the  music  room.  Once  again  he  was  captured  and  we  all 
hope  for  good.  It  really  doesn't  seem  after  this  day  of  excite- 
ment that  anything  could  happen  to  him  though!  Jack  is  con- 
vinced that  if  he  were  thrown  overboard  even,  the  wily  little 
creature  would  find  some  way  of  getting  back  on  the  yacht! 
He  certainly  has  more  than  nine  lives,  even  if  he  is  living  them 
quickly! 

There  was  a  marvelous  rainbow  this  afternoon,  the  most 
marked  one  I  have  ever  seen:  a  perfect  half-circle  of  flaming 
color.  Then  a  few  hours  later  there  was  a  double  rainbow, 
equally  beautiful  and  a  sight  I  had  never  seen  before.  It  is  thrill- 
ing to  see  anything  for  the  first  time!  Things  one  doesn't  go  in 
search  of,  or,  as  far  as  we  know,  don 't  come  after  us,  but  are  just 
there  at  some  time  or  other  for  those  who  aren't  blind,  to  see 
and  to  feel. 

T  HAS  been  a  fairly  good  day — at  least  some  sunshine,  and 
the  drenching  tropical  rain  which  has  poured  down  upon  us 
each  day  held  off  until  late  afternoon.  We  crossed  the  Equator 
at  half  past  three  and  drank  Neptune's  health  in  a  variety  of 
drinks  including  creme  de  menthe,  beer,  ginger-ale,  whisky-and- 
soda  and  a  gin-fizz!  To-night  we  were  obliged  to  slow  down 
quite  a  good  deal  because  some  salt  water  found  its  way  into 
the  oil,  or  words  to  that  effect,  and  we  shall  now  be  at  least  a  day 
late  in  Trinidad. 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


STILL  plodding  along  though  Jack  seems  to  think  he  could 
get  off  and  walk  faster  than  we  are  moving!  The  weather 
is  improving  all  the  time  and  I  don't  believe  any  one  really 
minds  the  delay  except  Mary,  who  is  apprehensive  of  the 
boat's  "waving"!  Even  the  monkeys  have  minded  their  P's 
and  Q's.  Another  marvelous  rainbow  this  afternoon;  this  one 
cut  the  sky  in  half  exactly  overhead,  while  the  two  great  arms 
spread  down  and  dipped  their  brilliant  fingers  into  the  ocean. 

AT  9:10  this  morning  we  stopped.  One  has  a  curious  ominous 
sensation  when  a  boat  stops  suddenly  in  mid-ocean  after 
the  continuous  moving  on  and  on  and  on.  She  grows  to  seem 
almost  alive  when  at  sea.  There  was  some  trouble  in  the  engine 
room  but  it  was  repaired  before  noon  and  we  were  once  again 
on  our  way. 

A  Real  Tragedy  however  was  the  loss  of  Rio!  He  was  scamper- 
ing around  the  deck  having  a  wonderful  time  and  causing  us  all 
endless  amusement  by  his  funny  antics  when  he  suddenly  dis- 
appeared down  toward  the  fo 'castle.  Something  or  some  one 
must  have  frightened  him  badly  for  it  seems  that  he  took  a 
bounding  leap  overboard.  There  is  of  course  always  a  humorous 
side  to  everything  and  we  had  to  laugh  at  Smith!  Evidently 
he  must  have  learned  in  a  training-school  for  domestics  the 
exact  way  in  which  a  servant  should  announce  to  his  mis- 
tress the  death  of  her  pet  monkey,  for  he  walked  solemnly 
up  to  Virginia  with  perfect  composure  and  in  an  undertone, 
just  as  he  might  have  asked  how  many  guests  there  would 
be  for  dinner,  he  said:  "Madam,  the  monkey  has  just  commit- 
ted suicide  off  the  fo 'castle  railing,"  and  having  delivered  his 
information,  walked  swiftly  and  noiselessly  away!  Virginia 
really  felt  terribly,  as  we  all  did;  one  gets  attached  to  a  helpless 
little  thing  like  Rio,  and  it  seemed  so  unnecessary  to  have  him 


Tuesday 
May  16th 


Wednesday 
May  i  jib 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Wednesday 
May  77' 


Friday 
May  igtb 

Saturday 
May  2Otb 


die  like  that,  but  we  could  not  help  but  be  amused  at  Smith's 
announcement. 


Thursday        A.    DAY  much  like  the  rest — a  few  light  showers  and  a  little 
./V  rougher  than  usual  this  morning.  No  adventures. 

A  SMOOTH  sea  and  a  sunshiny  sky. 

THIS  morning  we  reached  Port  of  Spain  in  the  Island  of 
Trinidad.  It  isn't  so  warm  as  I  expected  to  find  it,  having 
read  in  Masefield  that  it  is  known  to  mariners  as  Hell's  Lid  or 
Number  One  Hatch! 

The  town  is  extremely  picturesque,  reminiscent  in  a  way  of 
Panama.  The  streets  are  filled  with  East  Indians  and  a  great 
many  negroes  as  well.  The  East  Indians  are  very  unique-look- 
ing, especially  the  women  with  their  bright-colored  skirts  and 
bodices  and  the  white  veil  they  almost  invariably  wear,  which 
they  wind  around  the  head  and  over  the  shoulder.  Their  arms 
and  ankles  are  covered  with  silver  bracelets  and  their  fingers 
with  rings.  Many  of  them  wear  several  necklaces  of  beads  and 
most  of  them  had  rings  through  their  noses.  Some  just  wear  a 
gold  button  fixed  through  one  nostril.  They  are  wonderfully 
graceful  in  their  walk  and  carriage  and  have  a  kind  of  languid, 
listless,  wistful  expression  that  suggests  a  melancholy  resigna- 
tion to  their  fate. 

There  was  nothing  much  to  buy  in  the  shops  except  this  prim- 
itive silver  jewelry  which  Mary  and  Virginia  purchased,  and  in 
which  we  shall  expect  to  see  them  decked  at  the  next  Mardi 
Gras  ball. 

As  we  drove  up  toward  the  Hotel,  we  could  not  be  other  than 
delighted  with  the  town  of  Port  of  Spain.  There  is  an  enormous 


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117 


sort  of  Recreation  Park  where  they  evidently  play  Polo  and 
have  racing  and  all  that  kind  of  thing,  with  a  beautiful  avenue 
all  the  way  around  it  on  which  the  nicest  residences  are  situ- 
ated. The  Governor's  house,  in  the  middle  of  a  large  park  open 
to  the  public,  is  the  most  conspicuous  building,  but  all  the  way 
around  are  pretty  homes  in  gay  little  gardens  which  are  a  per- 
fect mass  of  blooming  flowers.  The  park  avenue  seemed  to  be 
filled  with  adorable  pink-cheeked,  blue-eyed  English  children, 
dressed  in  white  and  hatless  wherever  they  were  playing  in  the 
shade.  It  is  so  unusual  to  see  children  without  hats  and  coats 
and  sweaters  and  leggings!  These  tots  with  their  bare  legs  and 
arms  and  little  low-necked  frocks,  their  curly  blond  hair,  looked 
more  like  story-book  children  than  any  I  have  ever  seen. 

When  we  reached  the  Hotel,  a  particularly  nice  one  situated 
on  the  avenue  of  which  I  have  just  spoken,  we  found  all  our 
mail,  which  Mr.  Tooker  and  Mr.  Hayden  had  finally  managed 
to  get  out  of  the  customs  after  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  and 
much  red  tape;  the  very  first  line  since  Panama.  Of  course 
most  of  our  letters  had  been  written  two  months  and  more 
previously,  but  it  was  nevertheless  very  gratifying  to  have 
actual  news  from  home — telegrams  are  exceedingly  unsatis- 
factory as  sentimental  messages! 

After  luncheon  we  went  for  a  motor  drive.  The  car  in  which 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tooker  and  I  found  ourselves  was  driven  by  a 
young  negro  boy  of  twelve  or  fourteen  years.  He  seemed  to 
know  less  about  running  a  motor  than  an  iguana  when  we 
started  off,  and  before  we'd  gone  a  hundred  yards  I'd  gladly 
have  seen  a  mosquito  change  places  with  him! 

However  the  boy  who  was  driving  the  other  motor  started 
ours,  and  then  climbed  out  of  the  driver's  seat,  while  our 
"Chauffeur"  slipped  into  his  place  and  proceeded  to  attempt 
to  guide  the  car;  we  soon  found  he  couldn't  even  do  that!  We 


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did  manage  to  get  as  far  as  the  water-works  which  we  stopped 
to  see.  The  woods  were  beautifully  green  and  clean  and  fra- 
grant, and  there  was  a  sweet  little  garden  where  the  stream  ran 
through  into  the  reservoirs  below.  A  kindly  old  keeper  picked 
a  bunch  of  flowers  for  us  among  which  were  exquisite  gardenias 
and  the  most  fragrant  and  the  largest  jasmine  I've  ever  seen. 
The  bamboo  was  as  tall  as  the  tallest  trees  and  wonderfully 
luxuriant  in  its  growth  everywhere. 

We  started  on  up  the  hill  and  stopped  and  started  again,  and 
for  the  next  ten  miles  our  lives  were  in  as  imminent  danger  as 
we  could  ever  wish  to  have  them  even  with  suicidal  intent! 
The  Chauffeur  in  the  first  car  had  to  run  back  and  start  our 
motor,  and  run  it  a  little  way  a  dozen  times  or  more,  so  our 
progress  was  slow  to  say  the  least.  The  first  boy,  rather  than 
crank  the  motor,  which  was  apparently  stiff,  would  back  the 
car  down  the  steep  hill,  throw  out  his  clutch  and  pick  up  his 
engine  that  way;  the  twelve-year-old  decided  that  this  was  an 
easy  method  indeed,  and  the  next  time  he  killed  his  engine,  off 
came  the  brakes  with  a  flourish  and  we  of  course  swung  around 
in  a  half-circle  to  the  very  brink  of  a  precipice.  It  makes  me 
dizzy  to  think  of  it!  Really  it  was  a  most  nerve-racking  adventure; 
especially  so  when  we  learned  that  our  twelve-year-old  had 
never  driven  a  motor  in  his  life  before  this  very  morning!  The 
road  was  excellent  and  led  through  lovely  tropical  country,  but 
we  couldn't  spare  very  much  time  in  seeing  it.  Our  eyes  were 
glued  on  the  road  ahead,  or  shifted  to  gaze  down  at  the  precipice 
beneath.  Our  misery  only  ended  when  we  finally  had  a  blow-out 
and  so  had  to  climb  into  the  other  motor  in  which  we  got  safely 
back  to  the  Hotel.  Later  we  drove  around  the  town  again.  There 
are  some  marvelous  spreading  trees  in  the  park— enormous  deep 
dark  green  ones — which  look  almost  like  the  nearly  unbelievable 
big  trees  one  sees  in  the  old  Biblical  prints. 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


We  all  liked  Port  of  Spain.  It  is  quaint  and  picturesque  and     Saturday 
decidedly  oriental.  I  wonder  if  it  isn't  like  some  place  in  India?     MaJ  2°tb 
The  English  people  and  especially  the  great  numbers  of  beau- 
tiful blond  English  children  with  their  Indian  nurses  made  it 
seem  so. 

There  were  some  very  large  trees  covered  with  flame-colored 
flowers  which  I  should  like  to  know  the  name  of,  but  no  one 
seems  able  to  tell  me.  While  we  were  looking  at  these  and  mak- 
ing inquiries,  we  saw  a  number  of  carts  drawn  by  donkeys  and 
filled  with  bales  of  grass  stop  at  the  edge  of  a  brook,  where  the 
driver  would  lift  off  the  bales  one  by  one,  soak  them  in  the 
water,  and  then  replace  them  in  his  wagon.  We  were  much 
puzzled  at  first  as  the  grass  looked  too  clean  to  need  washing, 
but  seemingly  there  is  graft,  graft,  graft  everywhere,  for  these 
boys  sell  their  loads  by  the  weight  and  of  course  by  soaking  the 
grass  in  water  they  receive  a  great  deal  more  money  than  they 
earn. 

We  left  the  Quartermaster  in  Port  of  Spain  as  he  developed  a 
bad  case  of  typhoid  fever  on  the  way  up  from  Rio  Janeiro.  It 
seemed  a  long  way  from  home  to  be  left  alone,  but  there  was  a 
nice  English  Hospital  and  of  course  he  is  much  better  off  there 
than  he  would  be  anywhere  else.  Back  to  the  Cyprus  for  dinner 
and  the  night. 

\ 

THIS  morning  early  we  went  over  to  Brighton  where  the     Sunday 
Cyprus  tanks  were  filled  with  oil.  Brighton  has  none  of  the     May  2ist 
natural  beauties  of  Port  of  Spain;  in  fact  it  is  a  desolate,  barren- 
looking  spot  and  much  warmer  than  the  former  place.  We  went 
to  the  American  Consul 's,  Mr.  Fowler's  office,  for  a  few  minutes 
until  a  motor  was  procured  to  take  us  to  the  Pitch  Lake.  It  is 
only  a  very  short  distance  away  from  the  docks,  but  terrifically 
hot  weather  to-day  made  walking  decidedly  unpleasant;  even 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


Sunday 
May  21** 


Monday 
May  22nd 


Tuesday 
May  2jrd 


so,  we  had  the  energy  to  walk  back!  The  Lake  is  one  of  the  very 
most  interesting  things  we've  seen, — one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  acres  of  asphalt.  We  walked  all  over  it — that  is  to  say,  over 
a  great  deal  of  it,  sometimes  with  difficulty  as  there  are  many 
places  where  it  is  soft  and  oozy;  in  fact  as  you  walk  along,  warm 
sulphury  water  spurts  up  on  your  ankles,  though  the  place  you 
put  your  foot  on  seems  to  be  perfectly  smooth  and  hard  and 
dry.  There  are  small  pools  of  water  everywhere  and  several 
times  just  while  we  were  standing  there,  a  little  fountain  of 
water  would  bubble  up  for  a  minute  or  two  and  then  disappear 
entirely.  They  export  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  tons  of 
asphalt  each  year  and  twelve  hundred  barrels  of  oil  a  day.  We 
were  at  the  dock  all  day  but  left  toward  evening  to  return  to 
Port  of  Spain  for  our  clearance  papers  and  some  machinery 
which  had  been  left  for  repair.  It  is  now  half  past  eleven  and 
once  again  we  are  off  on  our  journey  northward. 

DAY  of  blue  sea  and  blue  sky  incomparable!  No  events, 
adventures  or  remarks  beyond  great  enthusiasm  over  the 
weather  and  the  joy  and  delight  of  being  on  the  Cyprus! 

THE  very  most  perfect  day  imaginable!  Water  so  blue  as 
to  be  unbelievable  and  wonderfully  smooth!  An  ideal 
day  and  an  ideal  night  except  it  is  just  a  tiny  bit  too  warm; 
however  we  seem  all  to  be  growing  accustomed  to  it. 


Wednesday        \  NOTHER  such  day  as  yesterday.  Everybody  is  happy  and 
May  24th     2~\_  good-tempered,  including  the  three  parrots,  two  paroquets 
and  the  three  marmosets! 


Thursday     A  •  ^VHIS  morning  every  one  was  up  literally  at  dawn  and  even 
May  2^tb       J^    on  tjle  Bridge  at  that  time,  as  we  sailed  through  the  nar- 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


row  channel  into  the  Harbor  of  Santiago  de  Cuba.  With  the 
great  fortress  on  the  right  and  the  wonderful  tropical  green 
foliage  of  the  hills  and  the  still  blue  water,  it  was  a  most  impres- 
sive and  a  very  beautiful  sight.  It  seems  useless,  in  fact  it  would 
be  an  effrontery  on  my  part,  to  attempt  really  to  describe  the 
situation  of  the  castle  or  of  Santiago  itself,  because  it  has  been 
done  so  often  and  sometimes  so  well.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  for 
those  of  us  who  had  not  been  here  before,  I  believe  it  left  an 
indelible  impression  upon  our  minds.  Immediately  after  break- 
fast we  went  ashore.  The  city  of  Santiago  struck  me  as  being 
very  slovenly  and  rickety  and  unkempt.  One  or  two  noisy  street 
cars  wind  their  way  through  the  narrow  dirty  streets  and  here 
and  there  is  a  modern  building  such  as  the  Hotel,  which  is 
decidedly  pretentious,  and  the  Cuban  National  Bank,  but  the 
majority  of  them  are  tumbled-down,  dirty  and  badly  con- 
structed and  obviously  never  repaired. 

We  went  into  the  large  Church  raised  above  the  main  plaza 
on  a  kind  of  terrace  but  there  was  absolutely  nothing  of  interest 
in  it  whatsoever.  Then  we  took  motors,  in  this  instance  not 
Fords,  strange  to  relate! — though  we  saw  a  ship-load  of  new 
arrivals  at  the  dock — and  went  first  up  to  El  Caney  where 
there  is  a  splendid  view  of  all  the  surrounding  country,  includ- 
ing San  Juan,  Kettle  Hill,  the  city  of  Santiago  and  the  entire 
plain.  A  huge  cannon  rests  on  the  very  top  of  the  hill  called  El 
Viso,  in  the  centre  of  ruined  fortress  walls,  with  a  bronze  plate 
beneath  it  commemorating  the  deaths  of  the  men  who  fell 
there,  and  giving  their  names. 

We  had  a  youthful  guide  who  spoke  rather  good  English  and 
who  told  us  a  number  of  interesting  things.  He  pointed  out  a 
tree  which  grows  all  through  the  woods  called  a  "pinon  tree" 
which  it  is  said  the  Holy  Cross  was  made  of.  In  all  good  faith 
and  with  an  awed  sincerity,  he  assured  me  you  could  break  the 


Thursday 
May  2$tb 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


122 

Thursday 
May  2$tb 


leaves  off  or  cut  the  bark  any  day  of  the  year  save  one,  and  a 
kind  of  white  fluid  ran  out  of  it;  but  that  on  Good  Friday,  if 
you  broke  a  leaf  or  cut  the  bark,  the  fluid  was  as  red  as  blood. 
He  assured  me  solemnly,  indeed  reverently,  that  he  himself  had 
tried  it  many,  many  times  and  it  had  always  so  happened.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  who  is  justified  in  questioning  another  where 
such  a  faith  as  that  exists? 

Next  we  drove  over  to  San  Juan  Hill  where  we  saw  the  little 
lookout  tower  and  what  is  left  of  the  trenches,  which  are  almost 
entirely  filled  in  now,  and  a  pathetic  white-washed  plaster 
monument  dedicated  to  the  brave  men  who  fell  there.  It  was 
all  so  absolutely  unnecessary — such  reckless  slaughter  of  human 
beings — against  orders  from  headquarters,  that  one  could  not 
but  look  on  that  miserable  column  with  a  mixture  of  anger  and 
resentment, — supposedly  a  monument  to  courage  and  bravery 
but  almost  as  temporary  as  a  bunch  of  cut  flowers  might  have 
been!  I  looked  up  quite  suddenly  at  the  sky  just  then.  The  sun 
was  directly  overhead  and  around  it  like  a  halo  was  a  perfect 
rainbow  of  the  most  brilliant  coloring,  so  the  monuments  don't 
really  matter  after  all — temporary  or  everlasting! 

It  was  very,  very  interesting  to  see  battle-fields  of  contempo- 
rary history  of  our  own  making;  such  things  really  are  rather 
rare.  We  learned  a  few  things  about  Roosevelt  that  have  care- 
fully, probably  deliberately,  been  left  unpublished.  He  certainly 
is  far  from  a  hero  in  the  eyes  of  the  Cuban ! 

We  returned  to  the  Hotel  for  a  sandwich;  this  rising  at  dawn 
called  for  a  bit  of  something,  since  we  had  all  agreed  not  to 
waste  time  eating  luncheon.  Needless  to  say  we  wasted  almost 
as  much  time  getting  one  sandwich  each,  and  not  until  we 
threatened  to  leave  without  either  eating  or  paying  for  them 
did  a  slow,  lackadaisical  waiter  stroll  in  with  what  proved  to  be 
a  bountiful  supply! 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


Afterwards  we  drove  up  a  mountain  where  we  had  a  mirac- 
ulous view, — the  city,  the  harbor,  the  ocean  and  miles  and  miles 
of  beautiful  green  hills  and  valleys.  However,  had  I  known  the 
price  one  had  to  pay,  I  never  should  have  gone,  for  we  drove  at 
a  break-neck  speed  around  right-angle  turns  on  and  on  and  up 
and  up  and  faster  and  faster,  until  the  whole  thing  resolved 
itself  into  a  horrible  nightmare,  just  too  awful  to  be  real  and 
yet  right  there,  to  be  proved  true  all  the  while.  I  'm  ashamed  to 
say  I  burst  into  tears  when  we  reached  the  top,  though  any  sane 
person  would  have  "done  their  hysterics"  on  the  way  up,  cer- 
tainly not  when  safely  landed  and  stopped  even,  on  the  summit! 
However,  no  one  but  Judge  Babbitt  saw  me  make  such  an  idiot 
of  myself,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  everything  I  may 
say  or  do  is  beneath  contempt  or  criticism  since  the  day  he 
overheard  me  tell  the  Mayor  of  Buenos  Aires  that  I  did  not  like 
the  city  of  San  Francisco. 

I  never  could  gain  any  favor  after  that,  though  he  didn  't  over- 
hear—  they  never  do,  those  wicked  eavesdroppers — what  I  told 
the  Mayor  before  and  after  that  remark,  about  California  in 
general  and  San  Francisco  in  particular.  Of  course  secretly  I  am 
flattered  that  any  importance  at  all  should  be  attached  to  my 
personal  opinion  of  anything.  I  am  forced  to  admit  my  "crime" 
is  still  an  innocent  one  as  far  as  I  can  see.  But  to  go  back  to  the 
mountain,  or  rather  to  the  plain,  because  I  don't  want  to  stay 
up  there  another  minute, — I  never  had  such  an  exquisitely  beau- 
tiful thing  so  completely  and  utterly  spoiled  for  me  in  my  life 
before.  We  motored  back  to  town  and  went  into  the  San  Fran- 
cisco Church,  the  oldest  one  in  Santiago.  It  was  rather  delight- 
ful, sympathetic,  most  unpretentious,  but  friendly  and  kind  and 
with  a  really  religious  atmosphere — just  a  quiet,  consoling  place 
for  sad  hearts  and  weary.  The  little  garden  was  a  mass  of 
flowers  with  one  tree  in  it,  all  abloom  with  tiny  white  blossoms 


Thursday 
May  2$tb 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


I  24 

Thursday 
May  25'b 


growing  in  thick  clusters  and  as  fragrant  as  tuberoses.  I  can't 
imagine  what  it  could  have  been.  After  another  tour  of  the  town 
we  regained  the  Cyprus  at  three  o'clock  and  sailed  about  four. 
It  was  far  from  an  old  story  to  see  the  fortress  and  the  Harbor 
entrance  again.  In  fact  we  remained  on  the  bridge  so  that  we 
should  not  miss  a  single  glimpse  of  the  beauty  of  it  all.  The 
Pilot  might  have  had  an  excellent  excuse  had  he  run  us  right 
up  on  the  shore! 

The  bay  was  full  of  jellyfish — horrid  things — but  there  must  be 
lots  of  other  kinds,  for  there  were  great  numbers  of  little  boats 
out,  with  both  men  and  women  fishing. 

And  now  we  have  some  new  passengers, — fourteen  little  birds 
in  one  big  cage  belonging  to  Mrs.  Aldrich  and  one  lovely  gray 
one, — a  mocking-bird  perhaps? — purchased  by  Rivington. 

It  was  lovely  all  afternoon  skimming  along  the  coast,  and  the 
sunset  was  almost  equal  to  those  on  the  Pacific.  Mr.  Hayden 
remained  in  Santiago  to  take  a  train  to  some  place  or  other  on 
business  with  the  intention  of  joining  us  to-morrow. 

The  days  on  the  Cyprus  are  getting  fewer  and  fewer.  Coming 
to  the  end  of  anything  really  satisfying  and  good  is  very  like 
growing  old  unwillingly.  Alas!  you  just  can't  stop!  I  really  wish 
there  were  only  one  way  of  returning  to  California,  and  that 
was  to  retrace  our  journey  step  for  step. 


Friday     f  •  AHIS  afternoon  we  arrived  at  Cienfuegas  where  we  left  the 
May  26th  Cyprus  while  we  go  by  rail  to  Havana.  The  town  was  less 

attractive  than  most  of  those  we've  seen,  although  nothing 
man  can  do  can  spoil  the  wonderful  kaleidoscopic  coloring  of 
these  places.  The  houses  are  frequently  painted  pink,  with 
cobalt  blue  balconies  and  with  red  tiled  roofs.  Then  there  are 
marvelous  great  shade  trees,  all  one  mass  of  flame-colored 
flowers;  negresses  ambling  about  in  a  blaze  of  brilliant-colored 


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125 


calicoes,  their  shiny  faces  lending  just  the  touch  of  black  which 
every  brilliantly  colored  picture  needs,  and  the  piercing  tropical 
sunlight  acting  like  a  magnifying-glass  on  the  whole  scene.  It 
almost  takes  your  breath  away!  But  I  shall  never  see  color 
again  as  I  saw  it  in  the  Market  Place  at  Cuzco.  I  was  convinced 
that  morning  that  if  I  opened  my  eyes  I  shouldn't  see  it  ever 
again.  It  was  terribly  unreal  though  so  beautiful — a  contradic- 
tion for  which  I  apologize! 

We  drove  all  over  the  town  in  "coches."  Many  of  the  streets 
are  dirty  and  unpaved  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  visible  effort 
made  to  beautify  them,  though  Cienfuegas  is  the  largest  Cuban 
sugar-growing  centre.  Apparently  the  town  is  developed  only 
in  a  commercial  way.  The  drive  along  the  water-front  is  the  one 
exception— a  smoothly  paved  wide  road.  We  drove  to  the  end  of 
it  just  at  sunset  and  we  shan't  forget  it,  I  think. 

We  dined  at  the  Hotel— very  hurriedly,  in  fact  with  great 
difficulty,  having  only  about  half  an  hour  before  catching  the 
train.  However  we  scrambled  through  the  meal  and  didn't 
miss  the  train.  It  was  a  Special,  which  took  us  to  Santa  Clara 
where  we  were  due  at  ten-thirty.  We  expected  to  have  to  wait 
there  forty  minutes  or  an  hour  at  the  most,  for  the  through 
train  from  Santiago  which  was  to  take  us  on  to  Havana.  Alas 
and  alack!  When  we  reached  Santa  Clara,  a  rumor  spread 
abroad  that  the  train  was  very  late,  so  we  went  across  the  street 
to  a  little  inn  very  much  in  the  nature  of  a  good  old-fashioned 
corner  saloon,  and  here  we  waited  and  played  sleepy  Bridge 
until  one  o'clock,  when  we  heard  a  long  loud  whistle.  The 
Manager  scurried  in  to  say  that  we  must  hurry  and  run  over 
to  the  station  or  we  would  miss  our  train.  We  scampered  about 
and  hastily  collected  our  various  belongings,  only  to  find  when 
we  reached  the  station  that  we  had  heard  a  Freight!  When  we 
looked  back  across  the  street  to  our  refuge,  we  found  the  Hotel 


Friday 
May  26th 


on  South  America  with  Variations  !  From 


1 26 


Friday 
May  26tb 


Saturday 
May  27'b 


closed  and  dark.  The  man  had  fooled  us  without  much  effort 
and  had  not  lost  a  minute  in  locking  his  doors.  We  couldn't 
blame  him,  though  we  were  obliged  to  wait  on  the  station  plat- 
form for  another  hour  and  a  half! 

i 

THIS  morning  at  half  past  ten  we  reached  Havana  and 
went  immediately  to  the  Hotel  Inglaterra  where  we  found 
quantities  of  very  welcome  mail.  We  lunched  at  the  Hotel  and 
went  afterward  to  the  Corona  cigar  factory  which  was  im- 
mensely interesting.  They  employ  eight  or  nine  hundred  men 
and  I  don't  know  how  many  women.  It  is  a  perfect  beehive  of 
industry. 

In  one  of  the  rooms  where  the  work  of  rolling  cigars  was  going 
on  there  was  a  man  perched  up  on  a  high  platform  reading 
aloud  to  the  men.  No  women  are  employed  to  roll  the  cigars 
but  a  very  large  number  work  in  the  rooms  where  the  sorting 
and  stemming  of  the  leaves  and  the  labelling  is  done.  They  are 
extremely  well  paid,  especially  the  women. 

Then  we  motored  out  to  Vedado,  a  residence  suburb,  and  from 
there  went  on  to  a  cemetery  which  was  rather  interesting.  There 
were  two  monuments  which  I  found  particularly  so,  or  rather 
the  stories  connected  with  them.  One  was  in  memory  of  four  or 
five  young  students,  who  had  thoughtlessly  scratched  or  in 
some  way  slightly  damaged  a  tablet,  commemorating  the  death 
of  a  Spanish  officer.  They  were  lined  up  in  the  Public  Square 
and  shot  by  the  Spaniards.  The  other  was  in  memory  of  some 
young  boys  who  had  volunteered  to  go  into  a  burning  ware- 
house to  help  save  the  contents.  Before  allowing  the  boys  to 
enter,  the  firemen  asked  the  owner  who  was  standing  by  if 
there  was  anything  inflammable  in  it,  and  as  this  is  against  the 
law,  the  owner  of  course  said  no.  The  boys,  who  were  all  sons  of 
prominent  citizens  in  Havana,  rushed  in,  and  almost  immedi- 


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127 


ately  the  entire  place  was  completely  demolished  by  one  great 
explosion.  It  was  then  discovered  that  the  man  had  been  con- 
cealing a  large  amount  of  high  explosives  in  the  building  all  the 
time. 

Our  amicable  toothless  old  Guide  felt  his  calling  conscien- 
tiously and  suggested  we  should  walk  over  to  see  the  bone-yard, 
but  no  one  felt  any  desire  to  do  so.  He  was  very  apologetic  over 
the  fact  that  the  motor  was  not  allowed  to  drive  to  where  the 
bone-yard  was  situated,  and  in  another  moment  would,  I  feel 
sure,  have  offered  to  bring  the  bone-yard  over  to  us ! 

We  did  some  shopping  later — that  is,  we  bought  some  fans 
which  were  absolutely  the  only  things  we  could  find.  This  even- 
ing Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aldrich  gave  a  dinner  at  the  Yacht  Club.  It 
was  a  lovely  drive  out  into  the  country,  about  fourteen  miles 
away,  and  we  dined  out  on  the  quay,  which  was  delightful. 
There  must  have  been  a  hundred  people  or  more  doing  likewise, 
the  women  all  dressed  in  light-colored  evening  gowns  and  the 
men  in  hideous  starchy  ill-fitting  white  linen  suits.  And  the 
men  here  need  all  the  prinking  and  dressing-up  possible!  They 
were  hopelessly  unattractive,  though  the  women  on  the  whole 
are  rather  noticeably  pretty.  For  awhile  we  watched  the  danc- 
ing in  the  Club  House  after  dinner,  but  the  previous  night  spent 
in  the  Santa  Clara  station  and  on  the  noisy  jiggling  train  made 
us  all  rather  too  tired  to  enjoy  a  ball,  so  we  went  home  very 
early. 

THIS  morning  we  made  a  real  tourists'  expedition  to 
Cabana  fortress  and  to  Morro  Castle.  It  is  just  a  short 
way  across  the  ferry  and  up  on  a  rocky  promontory,  which  we 
did  very  comfortably  in  motors.  Cabana  is  a  most  fascinating 
place,  perfectly  enormous.  Our  old  Guide  brought  his  small 
daughter,  aged  ten  or  twelve,  with  him  and  she  was  apparently 


Saturday 
May  2^tl> 


Sunday 
May  28th 


on  South  America  with  Variations!  From 


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Sunday 
May  28* 


accustomed  to  the  trip,  as  she  knew  all  the  guards  and  garrison 
men  and  they  made  a  great  fuss  over  her.  She  was,  besides,  quite 
familiar  with  all  the  stories  of  the  place,  which  she  told  in  her 
own  little  way,  and  a  most  entertaining  way  it  was. 

We  tramped  all  over,  and  had  various  points  of  interest 
explained,  such  as  the  wall  against  which  the  Spaniards  were 
stood  up  to  be  shot,  and  that  against  which  the  Cubans  were 
stood  up  to  be  shot  by  the  Spaniards,  the  idea  being  that  the 
Cuban  prisoners  should  not  even  share  the  honor  of  standing 
where  the  Spaniards  met  their  death,  even  though  it  were  a 
traitor's  death!  There  are  no  words  in  which  to  express  the 
Cuban  hatred  of  these  Spaniards  that  they  can't  even  speak  of 
without  sneering  at.  We  saw  chambers  of  solitary  confinement 
and  death,  and  all  kinds  of  torture  cells.  It  was  truly  horrible, 
most  of  it. 

From  Cabana  we  went  over  to  Morro  Castle  and  nearly  left 
one  of  the  party  behind  incidentally!  Mrs.  Tooker  was  singled 
out  by  a  young  military  student  who  paid  her  very  marked  and 
devoted  attention!  He  took  her  familiarly  by  the  arm  and 
swung  her  down  a  flight  of  narrow  steps  and  nothing  but  her 
remarkable  agility  saved  her  from  countless  broken  bones!  We 
climbed  up  to  the  height  at  the  very  top  of  the  castle  to  see 
where  the  prisoners  used  to  be  thrown  into  the  sea  to  be 
devoured  by  the  sharks;  their  arms  and  legs  were  firmly  bound 
with  strong  rope  and  then  down  they  were  flung,  into  the  deep 
water  two  hundred  feet  or  more  below  the  cliff.  We  crawled 
along  the  grass  to  peer  over  the  edge  and  saw  any  number  of 
sharks  waiting  expectantly.  They  must  have  long  lives  or  else 
some  mysterious  means  of  handing  down  their  traditions  and 
memories,  for  they  showed  no  sign  of  swimming  off  to  find  their 
food  elsewhere.  It  was  a  grewsome  sight.  In  fact  the  whole  place 
seemed  to  reek  of  crime  and  torture. 


San  Francisco  to  New  York  on  Board  the  CYPRUS 


We  lunched  at  the  Hotel  and  afterward  everybody  went  to  a 
cock-fight.  Fortunately  I  can 't  describe  it,  as  I  didn  't  go,  and  as 
this  record  is  only  meant  for  those  who  did,  I  imagine  that  they 
wouldn  't  care  to  be  reminded  of  it  particularly!  Mr.  Tooker  and 
I  went  to  the  Cathedral  which  lacks  a  great  deal  in  actual 
beauty  of  architecture,  but  is  full  of  historic  interest  and  of 
treasures.  For  many  years  the  body  of  Columbus  was  interred 
there.  In  the  Sacristy  they  showed  us  the  most  beautiful  and 
wonderfully  rich  ecclesiastical  treasures  I've  ever  seen  anywhere 
in  the  world:  marvelous  old  silver  and  innumerable  gold  chalice 
cups  and  crosses  heavily  jeweled;  great  emeralds  and  sapphires 
and  rubies  set  in  the  gold.  It  was  positively  dazzling.  Then  there 
were  gold-embroidered  vestments  with  pearls  and  emeralds 
worked  into  the  design — each  one  as  big  as  my  thumb  nail! 
They  were  far  more  magnificent  than  anything  I  've  ever  seen 
in  Europe. 

We  left  Havana  about  six  o'clock  and  sailed  at  dark.  It  is  our 
last  stop,  alas! 

A  LOVELY  day  to-day;  cooler  though  sunny  and  smooth 
and  blue.  I  can't  bear  even  to  think  of  the  day  after  to- 
morrow! No  sea.  No  ports.  No  Cyprus.  Just  hateful,  bustling, 
banal  New  York. 


A 


HEAVY  short  rain  this  morning  and  then  a  perfect  day. 
I  never  knew  before  how  blue  the  water  could  be. 


OUR  last  day!  We  were  close  to  the  coast  all  afternoon 
and  were  even  able  to  recognize  some  of  the  sea-side 
resorts  with  the  aid  of  the  spy-glass.  Every  one  was  busy  pack- 
ing and  gathering  together  all  their  various  belongings.  We 
anchored  very  late  this  evening  and  I  am  ready  to  weep  with 


Sunday 
May  28^ 


May  29l 


Tuesday 
May  30th 


Wednesday 
May  3 1^ 


on  South  America  with  Variations  ! 


130 

Wednesday 
May  jist 


Thursday 
June  I" 


the  blues.  Of  course  I  could  rhapsodize  over  this  trip  in  a  last 
resume,  as  a  fitting  ending  to  this  "  just  a  little  more  than  a  line 
a  day"  journal,  but  I  won't.  I '11  spare  you  that  bore  at  least. 

EARLY  this  morning  we  landed  at  the  New  York  Yacht 
Club.  We  all  parted  friends  and  only  said  au  revoir,  as  we 
expect  to  dine  with  Mr.  Hayden  to-morrow  night  and  continue 
to  see  each  other  until  the  break  for  California  is  made. 

I  suppose  I  should  be  thanking  Jack  on  my  knees  for  having 
given  me  so  much  pleasure  instead  of  whining  and  groaning  that 
it  is  all  over!  But  I  can't  help  it;  it  seemed  so  short  and  I  have 
loved  every  minute  of  it  so,  that  I  can  only  realize  it  is  over, 
with  regret. 

If  one  could  take  the  Cyprus  home,  it  wouldn't  be  so  bad,  but 
to  LEAVE  her!  It  is  a  real  heart-break!  It  is  no  Josselyn  exaggera- 
tion when  I  say  that  I  have  Jack  and  Virginia  to  thank  for  the 
greatest  pleasure  of  my  life. 

Thank  you,  Dears;  I  love  you  both. 


